Opinion

Why is the Israeli election important for India?

The 19 seats won by Arab-led parties have made them central to Israel’s post-election coalition arithmetic

October 30, 2026

Israel’s coalition arithmetic: 53, 48 and the crucial 19

How will Gadi Eisenkot, Benjamin Netanyahu‘s challenger, form a government? He is against religious fundamentalism and will not align with any of the Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties. The only option for Eisenkot (with 48 seats) is to seek the support of Arab parties, which possess 19 seats in the House, which has a total strength of 121. But for that to happen, Eisenkot has to swallow his words. His preconditions for any kind of alliance with the Arab parties are that they should accept Israel as a Jewish State and declare Hamas a terrorist organisation. Since it is a matter of survival for the Arabs, they may accept these conditions, which could be thrown to the wind when it suits them. That has been their strategy since time immemorial and, as per their ideology, there is nothing wrong with it. The history of Islamic politics is like that only: make hay while the sun shines. The Muslim League in Kerala is an ideal example of this policy. In 1967, they had no qualms about aligning with the rationalist and atheist CPI(M) for a price. They got the Malappuram district (now popularly known as mini-Pakistan) and Calicut University as a sine qua non. Add to this the wealth generated by them through the smuggling of gold, silver, and other contraband.

When there was a power struggle in the Muslim League leadership, a faction came out and joined hands with the CPI(M) again. They were constituents of the Marxist-led government that ruled the state during 1980-1982. The marriage of convenience ended in a divorce in 1986 as both factions of the League embraced each other to fight against the move to usher in a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) following the Shah Bano case verdict by the Supreme Court, which declared that the divorced wife of a Muslim is eligible for a maintenance allowance. For a Muslim, Sharia is more important than the country by the name of India. The Congress and the CPI(M) were vying with one another in accepting the demand by the Muslim League to allow Sharia Banks to operate in Kerala.

Moreover, the Muslims have managed to get reservations in government services and all educational services by claiming their backward community status. In Kerala, children of the Panakkad Thangals, who are the proprietors of the Muslim League, enjoy the benefits of reservation under the OBC tag. This is the same everywhere in India. One cannot tell whether Eisenkot belongs to the genre of the Congress and the Marxists of India. Having seen his campaign on television, I will not be surprised if he shares with the Arab parties the spoils of power.

But there is a stumbling block. There is a serious allegation that 75 percent of the Arabs in Israel were drawn to the polling booths because of the massive amount of political funding spent by Qatar and Turkey. Shin Bet (the Israeli investigating agency that is in charge of internal security) is probing the allegations, according to the Jerusalem Post[1]. The daily also quotes security agents as saying that there were many instances of rigging, booth-capturing, and threatening of Jewish voters in Arab-dominated areas. The Arabs and Palestinians constitute 20 percent of the Jewish State’s population. The allegation that Qatar and Turkey manipulated the elections in Israel cannot be ruled out easily because the track records of these countries are neither encouraging nor in sync with modern-day civilisation.

The mantle of the transition of power has fallen on President Isaac Herzog, who has to invite the leader of the political group that commands 61 seats in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). The chosen “leader” will get a total of 42 days to cobble up the majority mark. If he fails, the person who commands the second-most number of seats will be invited, and he will get 28 days to constitute an alliance of 61 members. If he too fails in the exercise, the President will invite the third person in the pecking order, and he will get just 14 days to form the government. If all three fail to form the government, it is back to the people for another election.

Needless to say, Benjamin Netanyahu would remain as Prime Minister (or caretaker PM) during the tamasha. Last heard, Netanyahu is in talks with Naftali Bennett, former PM who heads the outfit Bennett 2026, and Avigdor Lieberman, chief of Yisrael Beiteinu, a political party floated by himself. Though both Bennett and Lieberman are aligned with Eisenkot, they have made it clear that they are against any kind of alliance with the Arab parties.[2]

Bennett, who is 54, has served as PM for one year and is likely to bide his time for another shot at the PM’s chair. Lieberman is 68 and has enough energy to go for another battle. The important fact thrown up by this election is the roles of Qatar and Turkey in the poll outcome. This is a matter of concern not only for Israel but for India too. Early 2024 saw the government of Qatar releasing seven ex-Indian Navy officers who had been sentenced to death for unspecified charges. The anti-India news channel Al Jazeera is owned by the Qatari government. Turkey has no love lost for India, and there are many reports quoting intelligence agencies that say that Islamic terrorists operating in India get funded by Turkey and Qatar.

There is a strong feeling that the present riots and anarchy held under the auspices of the Congress, CJP, CPI(M) and AAP are financed by many countries and agencies. Most of the West Asian countries are pumping in billions of dollars to oust Narendra Modi and the BJP government from power. Outwardly, all of them eulogise Narendra Modi, but in reality, what is happening is that the mission to destabilise Bharat is in full swing.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of

Reference:

[1] Shin Bet probes suspected Qatari, Turkish funding to boost Arab turnout in Israeli election – Oct 29, 2026, The Jerusalem Post

[2] Netanyahu survived Israel’s election – but a political reckoning may only be beginning – Oct 30, 2026, The Jerusalem Post

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