Israel’s election is approaching, but candidates are offering slogans instead of policies - opinion

ByMARC TOBINAUGUST 22, 2026 21:07As Israel enters the final stretch of the election campaign, voters deserve something more than slogans, branding, and political attacks. With roughly two months left until election day, it is time for the candidates who want to lead Israel to tell us what they actually intend to do.We have already heard plenty of rhetoric.Can Gadi Eisenkot offer voters something more substantial than declaring Likud to be the “party of October 7”? October 7 was a failure of leadership and preparedness, and we must examine responsibility honestly. But Eisenkot himself served as IDF chief of staff during the years preceding the attack. If we are going to have a serious discussion about responsibility, it cannot be reduced to a campaign slogan aimed at one political party.Illustrative: A voting box in the an Israeli election in 2015. (credit: REUTERS)And can Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offer voters something more than the warning that if Likud is not in power, “the Left” will return Israel to the Oslo path? He claims to want to unify the country, but how exactly will he do that? Another partnership with the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir?Israel faces challenges far more complicated than these familiar political boogeymen. Israelis deserve to know what the candidates will actually do with the power they are asking us to give them.Of course, there are challenges also facing the emerging Center-Right parties. Will they be able to put aside personal ambitions, egos, and competing political brands and unite behind a single viable alternative to Likud? Or will precious votes once again be divided among parties that may struggle to have a meaningful impact?Does Avigdor Lieberman have a vision for Israel beyond positioning himself as potential kingmaker and, ultimately, the prime minister? Lieberman has made no secret of his ambition to become prime minister. But if Yisrael Beytenu emerges with enough seats to determine who forms the next government, voters deserve to know what Lieberman intends to demand in return.What are his economic priorities? What is his plan for housing? How does he propose to resolve the haredi draft crisis? What does he believe Israel’s security and diplomatic strategy should be? Being the kingmaker is a political role. Being prime minister requires a governing vision.Lieberman needs to show voters that he has a real one and not just empty, half-baked slogans.And what about Yair Golan? Can he move beyond inflammatory rhetoric about settlers and religious Israelis and present a serious political program? Israelis need to hear what he proposes to do besides the failed, unrealistic policies of Oslo.There is, however, one candidate who deserves credit for beginning to change the conversation: Naftali Bennett.Bennett has increasingly been talking about economic policy and the practical challenges facing the country rather than simply attacking his political opponents. That is a welcome development.Questions for Israel's futureWhatever one's political views, an election campaign should ultimately be about competing visions for Israel’s future.And there is no shortage of issues requiring those visions.How will the next government make housing genuinely affordable? Home ownership remains beyond the reach of so many young Israelis.How will Israel resolve the haredi draft crisis? This cannot continue to be treated merely as a coalition-management problem. It is a fundamental question about shared responsibility, the IDF, and the social contract between different parts of Israeli society. Voters deserve to hear detailed proposals that are practical, principled, and politically achievable.How will we reform education? Israel needs a revamped education system that prepares children for a rapidly changing economy while strengthening their connection to Jewish identity, civic responsibility, and the State of Israel. We need creativity and a slow move away from the antiquated bagrut (matriculation) system.And these are only three of the enormous challenges facing the next government.We also need serious plans for the economy – to lower taxes, reduce the cost of living, and improve national security. We need to finally tackle the relationship between religion and state, judicial reform, the healthcare system, public transportation, infrastructure, and Israel’s international standing.The election campaign should not be a contest over who can produce the most effective insult or the most frightening prediction about what will happen if the other side wins.The election campaign must be a genuine contest of ideas; a marketplace where competing visions for Israel’s future are put to the test. The best ideas should rise to the top; not the loudest slogans, the sharpest attacks, or the slickest political branding.Israelis deserve a campaign that challenges candidates to present concrete solutions, defend their positions, and explain how they will lead the country forward. Let the ideas compete, let the voters judge, and let the strongest vision for Israel win.The candidates who want to become prime minister, ministers, and members of the next Knesset have two months to tell us what they will actually do. Tell us their priorities. Tell us the timetable for implementing change. Tell us how much it will cost. Tell us what difficult choices will have to be made. And, most importantly, they have to tell us how they intend to bring a divided country together sufficiently to get it done.Israel has been through enough internal and external crises, especially since 2022. We do not need another election campaign built around empty rhetoric and recycled slogans.There are two months left. Now is the time for real plans.The writer is the Managing Partner of Dekel Capital Management, a resident of Beit Shemesh, a proud oleh who made aliyah 27 years ago and prides himself on always feeling like a new oleh. He is an avid Zionist who cares deeply about the future of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.Follow us on Google