Israeli Polls: Security Outranks Standing Abroad Before October 27 Vote

Voters are looking inward as the October 27 election approaches.

Campaign debate in Israel has centered on the legacy of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack and on divisions involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Questions about the country's reputation abroad remain a lower priority for most candidates and analysts. Yaakov Katz, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that criticism of government communications strategy has not become a major electoral issue. Katz noted that many voters accept Netanyahu's argument that opposition to Israel reflects antisemitism rather than policy disputes.

Reports from abroad have accumulated in recent months. Israeli media said tourists in Montenegro were confronted in July by individuals accusing them of taking a holiday from genocide. An Israeli woman reported that a Greek restaurant refused her service based on nationality, and a mother said she and her daughter were beaten in Thailand after identifying themselves as Israeli. A couple checking into a California hotel was asked whether they were "baby killers."

A Pew Research Center survey conducted between February and May found a median of 67% of adults across 36 countries hold unfavorable views of Israel. Some governments have called Israel's military operations in Gaza disproportionate, while others have distanced themselves from Israeli policy or imposed sanctions over settlement activity in the West Bank.

Ofir Dayan, a senior fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said Israelis recognize hostility abroad but carry other concerns after more than three years of war. "Israeli voters are very much one-issue voters, and the issue in this election is security," she said. Former IDF international spokesman Peter Lerner told JTA that foreign standing trails disputes over Netanyahu and the divide between left and right.

Few of the roughly dozen parties expected to enter the Knesset have published positions on the country's international image or public diplomacy plans. B'Yachad, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, proposed a non-voting parliamentary observer for Diaspora Jewish issues. The right-wing Amcha Yisrael party, led by former IDF Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, lists public diplomacy activists Yoseph Haddad and Fleur Hassan-Nahoum among its candidates; Haddad has sought the public diplomacy portfolio.

Journalist Eylon Levy said on JTA's "Waiting for 61" podcast that candidates view international relationships through the question of national interest. He described Otzma Yehudit as emphasizing toughness and criticized expectations on the left that restrained conduct would quickly restore relations. Levy added that a change of government would not shift perceptions immediately, though a more moderate administration could receive a grace period.