From Lydda to Gaza.. Why does Israel’s war continue even if Netanyahu leaves?

Israeli politics and the 2026 elections: Between war management and political settlement

On July 11, 1948, the city of Lydda, located between Jaffa and Ramla, was witnessing a large influx of displaced persons arriving from neighboring villages, as a result of the military operations in the area during the 1948 war. The following day, Israeli forces entered the city, and military orders were issued that led to the departure of a large number of Palestinian residents.

Forty-five years later, in 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords, a step seen as an attempt to achieve a political settlement between the two sides. However, the agreement left core issues such as Jerusalem, borders, and the right of return open for settlement in later stages.

Rabin’s trajectory, from his involvement in the 1948 war to the signing of Oslo, exemplifies the shifts in Israeli political discourse. In the first phase, Rabin was part of the military leadership that carried out operations leading to the displacement of Palestinians. In the second, he became a symbol of the political settlement approach, reflecting the diversity of currents within Israeli society and their differing approaches to the Palestinian issue.

From Ben-Gurion to the 1948 war.. Tools of control

On October 5, 1937, David Ben-Gurion wrote to his son Amos, clarifying that the establishment of a Jewish state on part of Palestine did not represent the end goal, but rather an initial phase, and that strengthening power could open the door to future expansion. At the time, Ben-Gurion was the chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency.

The Mapai party (founded by Ben-Gurion in 1930), the Histadrut (the General Federation of Labor), and the kibbutzim (cooperative settlements) led the process of building the political, economic, and military institutions that laid the foundations of the state prior to its establishment. The Histadrut implemented a policy of “Hebrew labor” aimed at reducing the dependence of the Jewish economy on Palestinian labor. The Jewish National Fund, meanwhile, worked on purchasing and managing land.

Between 1940 and 1947, the Jewish Agency prepared an intelligence project known as the “Village Files,” which gathered detailed information about Palestinian villages, including their maps, water sources, agricultural lands, families, and leadership. This information was later used in military and administrative operations.

In March 1948, “Plan Dalet” (formulated by the Haganah command) was completed. It included instructions for taking control of Arab villages and centers, destroying some, and forcing their inhabitants to leave. As a result of implementing this plan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes, and hundreds of Arab villages and towns were destroyed or emptied.

Following the declaration of the state in 1948, the Absentees’ Property Law was enacted in 1950, which defined an “absentee” broadly to include refugees who had left Palestine, as well as Palestinians who remained within Israel’s borders but had left their villages during the war. Through this mechanism, ownership of land previously held by Palestinians was transferred to the Israeli government via an administration known as the “Custodian of Absentee Property.”

Palestinians who remained inside Israel after 1948 lived under strict military rule between 1948 and 1966, despite holding Israeli citizenship. In the Kafr Qasim incident of 1956, a curfew was imposed on several Arab villages without notifying the workers and farmers returning from their fields, and fire was opened on those who violated the curfew, resulting in the deaths of 49 people and injuries to others.

The right and the “Iron Wall” doctrine.. From Jabotinsky to Smotrich

In 1923, Ze’ev Vladimir Jabotinsky wrote an article titled “The Iron Wall,” in which he asserted that Jewish settlement in Palestine would not progress with the consent of the Arab population, but rather under the protection of military force. Jabotinsky’s political current later became a foundation for the Israeli right.

On April 9, 1948, the Irgun organization participated in the incursion into the village of Deir Yassin, resulting in the deaths of more than a hundred Palestinians, including women, children, and the elderly. Following the establishment of the state, Menachem Begin (a former Irgun commander) founded the Herut movement, which later became the Likud party.

In 1977, Begin became Israel’s prime minister. He signed a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979 but maintained the Israeli presence in the West Bank (which the Israeli right refers to as “Judea and Samaria”).

Under Ariel Sharon, settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip expanded. During Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure, this expansion continued, and his government worked to reduce the prospects for political settlement with the Palestinians.

The latest generation of the Israeli right, represented by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, adopts a more hardline discourse, grounded in religious and nationalist narratives.

Israel searches for who will manage the war.. Elections as a continuation of fighting

Days after the Knesset voted to dissolve itself in early June 2026, Netanyahu said in a speech from a settlement in the West Bank that the Israeli army controls more than 60% of the Gaza Strip, and that military directives aim to raise this figure to 70%.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been going through a difficult period, during which the image of political leadership has been damaged, and the stature of the military establishment has been shaken. With the continuation of the war on Gaza and the spread of tensions to Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, the Israeli electoral debate has become centered on security management rather than political settlement.

Names such as Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, and Gadi Eisenkot have emerged as potential alternatives to Netanyahu. Polls in Israel have shown an increase in opposition to the idea of a Palestinian state and a growing belief that withdrawal from the West Bank could lead to a security escalation similar to what happened in Gaza.

From Lydda to Gaza.. Policy continuity

From Lydda in 1948 to Gaza today, from Ben-Gurion to Netanyahu, and from Rabin to the current opposition leaders, continuity in Israeli policies toward Palestinians is evident, despite differences in discourse and style among various currents.

While some await the election results as if they could bring about radical change, others believe that fundamental policies toward Palestinians may not change significantly, regardless of the identity of the winner.

Source: Al Jazeera

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