Despite facing sanctions from the United Kingdom, France, and Canada over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, Israeli politicians have responded with indignation while voters appear largely unaffected in the lead-up to October’s elections.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s accusations of ethnic cleansing as “outrageous lies,” alleging they were attempts to interfere in the election. President Isaac Herzog also condemned the measures, calling them a “gross interference” in Israel’s democratic process.
However, analysts suggest these international rebukes are not shifting public opinion. A August poll indicated that more than half of Jewish Israelis support retaining illegal settlements in any future agreement with Palestinians, while nearly 40 percent favor annexation despite international law. This comes as the death toll of Palestinians in the West Bank reaches 76 this year.
“People just don’t care that settlements are illegal,” said Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg. He noted that while Miliband’s references to his Jewish heritage were laudable, “we’re at the stage where Israelis aren’t even interested in the truth so much as they are the sentiment.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a challenging election, with polls suggesting his coalition may lose its majority. Yet experts argue the settlement sanctions will not be the deciding factor. Michael Koplow of the Israeli Policy Forum stated that voter blocs are “pretty hardened” and unlikely to switch sides due to foreign pressure.
Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani, an Israeli sociologist, identified three mechanisms behind this resilience: the normalization of settlements through biblical terminology like “Judea and Samaria,” the decoupling of external sanctions from domestic political costs, and the framing of foreign pressure within existing narratives regarding anti-Semitism.
Opposition figures have mirrored the government’s defiant stance. Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid labeled the sanctions a “grave mistake,” while rival Gadi Eisenkot has avoided commenting directly on the issue. Netanyahu himself has remained silent despite his party’s long-standing support for settlement expansion.
Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based pollster, observed that the sanctions have not generated significant backlash. “Instead, it’s just getting filtered through what people already think of him – his critics dislike him even more, and his supporters basically say, ‘Well, the world hates us no matter what,’” she said.
Netanyahu staying silent is telling. He knows his base won’t budge, so why risk looking weak? The political math seems straightforward.
76 deaths and voters still prioritize annexation. The disconnect between international law and public sentiment is wider than I imagined.
Does anyone else find it ironic that sanctions meant to stop expansion are actually hardening voter resolve? Feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It’s chilling how entrenched the settlement narrative has become. Hard to see foreign pressure changing hearts when domestic politics frame it as anti-Semitism.