The latest polls leave little room for doubt: Israel is heading toward a political deadlock more complex than ever before. Current projections suggest that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Gadi Eisenkot can secure a stable coalition with a majority of 61 MKs.
The current political reality suggests that there is no realistic prospect of forming a government without relying on the Arab parties, a scenario that faces mutual boycotts and offers little prospect of governmental stability.
In these circumstances, Israeli society faces two options: another descent into a cycle of recurring political crises, which tore the country apart and deepened internal divisions between 2019 and 2022, or the courageous and pragmatic choice of establishing a broad national unity government.
The advantage of a unity government
Israel’s history demonstrates that in times of national emergency, a unity government is not an undesirable compromise but the most appropriate response to the challenges of the moment. The clearest example is the national unity government formed in 1984 between the Alignment, led by Shimon Peres, and Likud, led by Yitzhak Shamir.
At the time, Israel’s economy was on the verge of total collapse, with inflation soaring into the hundreds of percent. It was precisely this broad political partnership that made it possible to implement the dramatic economic stabilization plan that rescued the economy and steered Israel toward safer waters. The strength of such unity lies in its ability to make difficult and painful decisions while securing broad public legitimacy.
Beyond the urgent economic and security challenges, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas continue to pose serious security challenges and even existential threats to the Jewish state.
A national unity government formed after the 2026 election would therefore faithfully represent the mainstream of Israeli society. It would comprise the major Zionist parties while keeping extremist elements on both the Right and the Left outside the government, forces whose divisive rhetoric has fueled social fractures in recent years.
Moreover, such a moderate and balanced government, built on broad agreement across most of Israeli society, would be welcomed and highly regarded internationally. It would help restore Israel’s international standing and diplomatic relations at a critical juncture in global affairs.
Israel’s recent experience further reinforces the conclusion that there is no viable alternative. We saw this during the global COVID-19 crisis, when an emergency government was formed, and again in the immediate aftermath of the national catastrophe of the October 7 massacre.
The remarkable resilience of Israeli society and the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of citizens on the front lines and at home demonstrated beyond doubt that the country’s strength lies in its unity.
The difficulties of a unity government
Admittedly, this would be a complex undertaking, likely to generate difficulties and disagreements, as previous national unity governments throughout Israel’s political history clearly demonstrate. History remembers the so-called dirty trick orchestrated by the Labor Party under Peres in 1990 to bring down the national unity government led by Shamir, amid claims that Likud was unwilling to advance the peace process.
Nor must we look far into the past: The collapse of the Netanyahu-Gantz government at the end of 2020 remains a fresh and painful memory. Yet given Israel’s current circumstances, with the country still grappling with a prolonged internal crisis alongside external threats to its very existence, there appears to be no alternative.
In conclusion, the time has come to choose unity over division. Israel’s leaders must rise to the occasion and put personal grievances and narrow political interests aside. This complex task will fall to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is the right person to lead efforts at national reconciliation.
Herzog must use the full weight of his public standing to help establish a stable national unity government. We can only hope and pray that he will do so, and that Israeli democracy will choose partnership, healing, and unity for the sake of future generations. Whatever the election results may be, this is the time for national unity!
The writer is a lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Collapse: The Israeli Labor Party, 1992-2024.