Israel’s referendum on October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu and much more - National Post
“October 7 opened a can of worms in Israeli society, a lot of issues that Israelis thought we can keep kicking the can of worms down the road forever. Now we have to deal with them,” says Eylon Levy, a former spokesman for the State of Israel. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images/FileArticle contentWednesday marks the third anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks on southern Israel — and 20 days before an Israeli election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record is the clear ballot question. To survey the mood in Israel, the Post’s Adam Zivo spoke to Eylon Levy, one of the Jewish state’s best-known faces internationally. A former spokesman for the State of Israel in the days after October 7, he has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and hosts From Here to There, the flagship international affairs show of Channel 16 in Israel, as well as the Israel Electioncast podcast.
ZIVO: What has the mood been like in Israel amid the third anniversary of October 7?
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LEVY: Israelis are going to the polls at the end of October, and the election is overshadowed by the question of October 7. For the opposition, the question is responsibility for the massacre itself. The government, or Netanyahu’s Likud party at least, wants it to be about the war triggered by October 7, while conveniently overlooking the massacre itself.
This was a moment that brought Israelis back to a moment of primal vulnerability and a reminder of the existential threats facing this country, and it was a moment of weakness that has led to Israel’s greatest moment of regional dominance, but with enormous challenges on the horizon, like a looming confrontation with Turkey, which has filled the power vacuum left by the Iranian regime.
ZIVO: There is a lot of anger about the massacre, and about the way the war has been managed, about the promises of total victory that have failed to materialize, about the very unequal distribution of the burden of military service. These are the issues that are going to dominate these elections. But can you give me some personal stories from those around you that can help Canadians visualize what it’s been like for the average Israeli in the leadup to October 7?
LEVY: On an emotional level, it has been beautiful to watch the former hostages rebuilding their lives. Just recently, Eliya Cohen, who was held in Hamas captivity for 505 days, mostly in the tunnels, got married.
