00:00Israel is heading into a crucial election, with violence flaring in the occupied West Bank and the country deeply divided
00:08over its future.
00:09A major Israeli military operation over the weekend has raised tensions even further, as Prime Minister Benjamin Enyahu battles for
00:17political survival.
00:19After three years of war, is Israel ready for a change of leadership? And would that bring a change of
00:25direction?
00:26Our correspondent Merit Gwynn caught up with former Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy.
00:32She started by asking him, how consequential is this election for Israel's future?
00:38These elections are taking place in the shadow of the October 7th massacre, and that issue is absolutely everywhere.
00:45First of all, the question of responsibility for the massacre that happened on Netanyahu's watch,
00:50the demand for a state commission of inquiry for accountability, responsibility.
00:54Secondly, the question of finishing the job. This war has loose ends. Hamas is still the government of Gaza.
01:02There is immense anger within Israel that Hamas is still standing in Gaza, rebuilding its war machine,
01:09and the parties are duking out over who will bring permanent security for the people of Israel.
01:15And then there's the third question of the social and economic costs of this war.
01:19We have seen young men doing hundreds of days in reserve duty, as the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel demand
01:27a religious exemption from military service.
01:29So the opposition parties are making this about not just citizens' equal rights, but their equal duties,
01:36knowing that there is a very long road ahead until Israel knows true peace and security.
01:41We are hearing reports that both the U.S. and Israel could be planning further attacks on Iran after the
01:49U.S. midterm elections.
01:51You obviously know this government very well. Do you think that that's something that they could be considering?
01:59I think that a return to war in Iran is extremely likely after the midterm elections.
02:05The current status quo, which is frozen, where the Iranian regime is trying to blockade the Strait of Hormuz,
02:12takes potshots at its neighbors, is clearly unsustainable.
02:16President Trump has said he doesn't want to return to war before the midterms,
02:20clearly worrying what will happen to oil prices.
02:22But he understands that the Iranian regime cannot be left standing to threaten its neighbors.
02:28And for what it's worth, Netanyahu is now vowing that next time round,
02:32his goal is to bring down the Iranian regime once and for all.
02:37Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister that Israel has had.
02:42Arguably, he has waged wars to stay in power and has left the country more polarized than ever.
02:49If he does step down, do you think that that can contribute to mending that rift within Israeli society?
02:56I want to challenge the premise.
02:58Netanyahu was, before October 7th, very cautious with the use of force.
03:04Part of the reason he's being criticized for allowing the October 7th massacre to happen
03:09is that he ignored the voices saying that we should remove the Hamas regime
03:14when we saw it building those tunnels, building those missiles.
03:18Instead, he allowed that threat to fester.
03:21But yes, Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.
03:25Like him or loathe him, he really is a once-in-a-century kind of leader.
03:30And the question of whether he should or shouldn't be prime minister
03:34has contaminated, frozen, poisoned Israeli politics for a decade now.
03:40But that question of whether Netanyahu should remain prime minister
03:43because of the criminal trial that is ongoing and because of responsibility for October 7th
03:49is preventing the sort of cooperation we could expect between Israeli political parties
03:55if his personality were not such a polarizing figure.
03:58So the day after Netanyahu, whenever that happens,
04:02I think we can expect to see Israeli politics being realigned.
04:05Until then, the battle lines really are drawn around.
04:08Yes, Bibi or no, Bibi.
04:12Let's do this.
04:12You
