The decision to dissolve the Knesset and hold elections in Israel seems to be having an effect in loosening up the discussion process there. Public debates about genocide and Apartheid are becoming more prominent.
Avraham Burg, former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset and one-time chairman of the Jewish Agency, has published a scathing assessment of Israel’s upcoming elections, arguing that the Israeli political system no longer offers voters any meaningful path away from the subjugation of Palestinians—only a choice between its cruder and more refined expressions.
Writing in his Substack newsletter on May 21, Burg strips the election down to three layers. The surface layer is political theater—a talent show of egos competing over image and body count. Beneath it sits the years-long Netanyahu psychosis, which he argues has collapsed Israeli politics into a binary personality cult of “yes or no to Netanyahu,” crowding out any genuine debate over borders, occupation, or peace. But the deepest layer, Burg contends, is the one that unites nearly the entire establishment: a tacit acceptance that “Palestinians between the river and the sea, will never have real freedom.”
