When Israel's Knesset Votes on Palestinians, the 'Centrist' Parties Side With the Far Right

Israelis go to the polls on October 27 in the first election since the war in Gaza and the conflicts with Lebanon and Iran — a vote widely seen as a test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hold on power.

According to an Al Jazeera analysis, since the Gaza war began in October 2023, the Knesset has passed or debated a raft of laws and resolutions concerning Palestinians, from denying their right to statehood and backing annexation of the occupied West Bank to cutting the humanitarian aid they receive.

Israel's Jewish-led opposition presents itself as the alternative to Netanyahu's right-wing government, yet on Palestinian issues the two sides frequently vote as one.

What do left and right mean in Israel?

On the conventional political spectrum, the left tends to favor higher state spending and more liberal policies on immigration and minority rights; the right tends to favor lower taxes, tighter borders and a unified national identity.

In Israel, these labels work differently: they are defined less by economics than by positions on the conflict with the Palestinians. Broadly, the left is associated with territorial concessions and negotiations, while the right is associated with opposing a Palestinian state and supporting the expansion of illegal settlements.

The entire Israeli political spectrum has shifted rightward, as views once considered extreme now sit in the mainstream. According to Palestinian political analyst Ehab Jabareen, much of the Jewish Israeli political arena now operates on "assumptions that a generation ago would have been considered right-wing."

Parties and coalitions in Israel

No party has ever won an outright majority in the 120-seat Knesset. To govern, a prime minister needs at least 61 seats, meaning a coalition of smaller parties with often conflicting demands. This gives small parties outsized leverage: if one withdraws, the government can collapse.

After the November 2022 election, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud — the largest party with 32 seats — formed a 64-seat coalition with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, and the far-right Religious Zionism alliance (a merger of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit). It was the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

Far-right leaders were among the government's most powerful figures. Bezalel Smotrich, head of Religious Zionism, serves as Finance Minister and also holds authority over civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, including settlement planning. Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of Otzma Yehudit, is National Security Minister, overseeing the police. Both have pushed for annexation and settlement expansion, and both have used the threat of quitting the government to shape policy.

The coalition's composition changed repeatedly. Benny Gantz's National Unity joined after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and left in June 2024; Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope joined that September. Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit quit over the Gaza "ceasefire" in January 2025 and returned two months later. In July 2025, United Torah Judaism left the coalition over a stalled bill exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service; Shas pulled its ministers at the same time but stayed in the coalition.

When the Knesset dissolved in July ahead of the election, the coalition held 60 seats: Likud (32), Shas (11), Otzma Yehudit (7), Religious Zionism (6) and New Hope (4).

The opposition

Opposition in Israel does not mean left. Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid was the largest party in the outgoing Knesset with 24 seats; Benny Gantz's Blue and White was second. Both are centrist and campaigned against the judicial overhaul plan proposed by Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist partners.

Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu is a secular, right-wing party; Lieberman is a former Netanyahu ally who opposes military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. The Labor Party, now part of the Democrats alliance, was the only Jewish party in the outgoing Knesset to openly support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Arab-led parties, representing Israel's Palestinian citizens, differ ideologically but share opposition to the occupation. Mansour Abbas's Ra'am made history in 2021 as the first Arab party to join an Israeli government. Hadash-Ta'al, led by Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi, has never joined a government; this time it is running on a Joint List slate with Balad.

How did each party vote?

Al Jazeera analyzed 10 key Knesset votes on issues affecting Palestinians between July 2024 and March 2026.

In Israel, a bill must pass three Knesset readings to become law. Most votes require only a simple majority of members present, and parties often deliberately abstain, either to deny a bill's legitimacy or to avoid going on record. As a result, some votes in the analysis involved only part of the 120 seats. Some bills passed by wide margins; others passed by a handful of votes.

The data shows the left has all but ceased to exist. The only consistent opposition came from the Arab-led parties and the 4-seat Democrats, which together held 14 of the 120 seats in the previous Knesset.

Saying 'no' to a Palestinian state

In February 2024, the Knesset backed a cabinet statement opposing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by 99 votes to 11.

The governing coalition, Yisrael Beiteinu and most lawmakers from Yesh Atid and National Unity — led by Gantz and including members of his Blue and White and Sa'ar's New Hope — voted yes. Labor boycotted the vote, while only the Arab-led parties voted no.

Five months later the script repeated: in July 2024, a resolution calling a Palestinian state an "existential danger" passed 68 to 9. National Unity — by then having lost Sa'ar's New Hope group — joined the coalition and Yisrael Beiteinu in voting yes; Yesh Atid and Labor stayed away; once again only the Arab-led parties opposed.

Ahead of the election, the Jerusalem News Syndicate asked Israeli politicians across the spectrum: "Does your party support the establishment of a Palestinian state?" Everyone asked said no.

The Knesset votes reflect the voters who elected it. Israeli views on a Palestinian state have declined over a decade and hardened markedly after October 7.

In spring 2023, 35 percent of Israelis told the Pew Research Center that Israel and a Palestinian state could coexist peacefully, down from 50 percent in 2013. By 2024, a few months after the attack, the figure was 26 percent; it fell to 21 percent in 2025 and 17 percent in 2026 — the first time a majority of Israelis said clearly that coexistence is impossible.

On annexing the occupied West Bank

In July 2025, a non-binding declaration calling for annexation of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, passed 71 to 13. Yesh Atid and National Unity boycotted; Labor and the Arab-led parties voted no.

When annexation came as an actual bill, the lines blurred further. On October 22, 2025, during the US Vice President's visit, a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank passed its preliminary reading by a single vote, 25 to 24.

• Yes: Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and Yisrael Beiteinu
• Split: United Torah Judaism, 4 yes – 3 no
• Absent: Shas and New Hope
• No: Yesh Atid, Labor and the Arab-led parties

Likud formally opposed the bill, with only lawmaker Yuli Edelstein voting yes. Had United Torah Judaism's four yes votes flipped, the bill would have failed.

The UNRWA ban

The ban on UNRWA — the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees — drew the broadest support of any binding law analyzed.

UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the Nakba — the "catastrophe," the Arabic term for the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 — and provides schools, health care, food aid and other basic services to nearly 6 million registered Palestine refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

In October 2024, the first of two bills barring the agency from operating in territory Israel considers sovereign, including occupied East Jerusalem, passed 92 to 10. The second, severing all state ties with UNRWA, passed 87 to 9. Both took effect in January 2025, despite warnings from the UN and Western governments that they would cripple aid operations.

Netanyahu's governing coalition, Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid and National Unity all voted yes, along with Labor lawmakers present. The Arab-led parties were the only ones opposed.

The election may change who governs Israel, but not necessarily how its parliament votes on Palestinians — especially when the voters themselves are moving further right.