ISRAEL AFTER THE VOTE: UNDERSTANDING THE ELECTION RESULTS AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The election on 28 October comes at a pivotal moment for Israel, amidst profound questions about the country’s political and social character, its security, and its place in the regional and international arenas. Its outcome is very likely to reshape Israel’s political and social landscape, opening up new possibilities whilst posing formidable challenges for the formation of a government and the direction of the country as a whole.

This discussion will provide an initial analysis of the election results and assess the prospects for coalition-building and political stability. It will examine what the results reveal about the direction in which Israel is heading, including the priorities, divisions and political dynamics likely to shape Israeli society and politics in the years to come. It will also consider the implications for Israel’s domestic agenda and social fabric, as well as the potential consequences for its relations with the Palestinians, the wider Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Bringing together a diverse group of senior journalists and policy analysts, the panel will provide an early assessment of the election and explore the key issues facing Israel in the days – and quite possibly the years – ahead.

Panel participants:

Tal Schneider, political and diplomatic correspondent for The Times of Israel. She previously served as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Maariv and as a political reporter for Globes, Israel’s business newspaper. She is also a frequent commentator in the Israeli and international media.
Thair Abu-Ras; Manager of the Forum for Regional Thinking at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, where he previously served as Director of Palestinian Programmes.
Amir Tibon, a journalist and author currently working for the *Haaretz* newspaper. His book *The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival and Hope* has been awarded the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, the Wingate Prize in the UK and the Bernstein Prize in Israel, and has been translated into seven languages. His writing on Israel and the Middle East has appeared in *The Atlantic*, *Foreign Affairs*, *The New Yorker* and other leading US publications.

Moderator:

Moran Stern, lectures on terrorism at the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) and on international relations in the Middle East at Webster University Vienna. He is a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.