Netanyahu’s Ultimate Victory Is His Opposition

When Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly in late September, a mass exit of diplomats ensued. Rather than faltering, the Israeli Prime Minister mocked the departing delegates as moral cowards, delivering precisely the defiant spectacle his domestic base relishes. As Israel approaches its October 27 general election, this posture captures the core of Netanyahu’s political durability: he remains the polarizing pivot around which the entire political apparatus revolves.

Yet the true measure of Netanyahu’s influence lies not in his loyal supporters, but in those attempting to unseat him. The anti-Netanyahu alliance, likely to be spearheaded by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, shares virtually no coherent agenda beyond removing the Prime Minister. In fighting Netanyahu, his rivals have effectively absorbed his worldview. The political spectrum has tilted so heavily toward a militaristic, right-wing consensus that any meaningful alternative has vanished from the mainstream conversation.

This ideological shift is the result of decades of calculated statecraft. Since entering the cabinet under Yitzhak Shamir in 1988, after stints as deputy chief of mission in Washington and UN ambassador, Netanyahu has masterfully converted division into political longevity. His current government, formed after the 2022 election, brought figures like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—a man previously convicted of incitement to racism—into the center of executive power.

The policy consequences of this long rightward march are evident across state institutions. The 2018 Nation-State Law stripped Arabic of its official status and enshrined Jewish settlement development as a primary national value. According to UN data, settler attacks in the West Bank surged from 1,291 in 2023 to 1,835 in 2025, while 1,071 Palestinians have died in the territory since October 7, 2023. Netanyahu’s domestic maneuvering—including a controversial 2023 judicial overhaul that sparked protests by hundreds of thousands—has repeatedly stretched the legal framework, even as he battles corruption charges dating to 2019 and faces an International Criminal Court warrant for war crimes in Gaza.

Even if Likud drops from its 2022 tally of 32 seats to the 20 or 22 currently projected, Netanyahu’s broad vision has triumphed. While Arab politician Sami Abu Shehadeh was barred from running, Netanyahu's mainstream opponents operate strictly within the parameters he established. The opposition has not defeated Netanyahuism; it has merely offered to administer it.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com