Israel approaches a national election on October 27, the first since the attack of October 7, 2023, carrying a generation that has never before stood at a ballot box in such numbers. Among the more than half a million young voters added since 2022, most Jewish first-time voters lean right, a shift that many see as the ripening of a longer rightward current rather than a sudden turn. It is a moment in which a country shaped by war and fear looks to its newest citizens to decide not only who governs, but which vision of its future will be carried forward.
'Generation Right': Israel's First-Time Voters Lean Sharply Toward the Right Ahead of Election
"Generation Right" refers only to Jewish youth, not Palestinian citizens
Mark
Three quarters of Jewish first-time voters call themselves right or centre-right. Why is that striking?
Mimi
Because young people elsewhere are drifting left, and here they sit well to the right of an Israeli population that was already moving that way.
Mark
What's driving it?
Mimi
The reporting points to years of rightward drift, the shock of October 7, and a media diet built on feeds, WhatsApp and Telegram.
Luke
Careful with the causes. The polls show where young voters stand. The explanations come from analysis and many observers, not from the surveys themselves.
Mark
And the far right specifically?
Mimi
A Yedioth Ahronoth survey puts it above 16 percent of new voters. Ben-Gvir's videos travel well online, and some of his support reaches beyond settlers.
Luke
That 16 percent is one newspaper's survey. And the Schleien clips are individual students, not a measure of a generation. The video was also removed, so we can't verify more than the account given.
Mark
Is there any counterweight?
Mimi
Gili, 18, in Tel Aviv, says society has given up on peace. She is on the left but describes the same fear.
Luke
One voice. What we don't know is whether the 80 percent turnout figure holds, and that matters for the result.
Le Pouls
- Roughly three in four Jewish first-time voters describe themselves as right or centre-right, pulling sharply against the wider electorate.
- Over half a million voters aged 18 to 22 have entered the rolls, and their turnout, planned at around 80 percent, could tip a closely contested race.
- Messaging apps and social feeds deliver political content to young Israelis, often without their seeking it, and the echoes spread fast.
- Netanyahu's political survival hangs on whether far-right backing among the young hardens into a decisive bloc, while a smaller peace-minded youth movement struggles to be heard.
- Videos of ministers and provocative remarks by students keep the country's polarised mood in public view as the vote approaches.
Israel approaches a national election on October 27, the first since the attack of October 7, 2023, carrying a generation that has never before stood at a ballot box in such numbers. Among the more than half a million young voters added since 2022, most Jewish first-time voters lean right, a shift that many see as the ripening of a longer rightward current rather than a sudden turn. It is a moment in which a country shaped by war and fear looks to its newest citizens to decide not only who governs, but which vision of its future will be carried forward.
Israel heads into its first national election in four years with a record number of first-time voters, and most of the Jewish ones are leaning right. More than half a million voters aged 18 to 22 have been added to the rolls since 2022, and polls suggest around 80 percent intend to vote on October 27. A recent Channel 12 poll found about three quarters of Jewish newcomers describe themselves as right or centre-right, well above the broader population, which has itself been drifting rightward for years. The label "Generation Right" has begun to circulate, though it applies only to Jewish youth.
The Israel Democracy Institute found that many of these young people are not especially active in public life, yet most believe the ballot box can change the country's future. Their political news often arrives through WhatsApp, Telegram and other feeds rather than through deliberate searching. The vote is also the first since October 7, 2023, and it will decide the fate of Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics say he has relied on far-right figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, whose influence has pulled their ideas into the mainstream.
The mood shows in the voices of the young themselves. A satirist who visits schools recorded a teenager declaring he would kill Arabs, and a student asked whether Gaza should be destroyed while her friend laughed. Not every young voter agrees. Gili, an 18-year-old supporting the left-leaning Democrats, told AFP that Israeli society had given up on peace, scarred by October 7. Still, a Yedioth Ahronoth survey found over 16 percent of new voters plan to back far-right parties, and some, like 18-year-old Amihai, proudly wear Ben-Gvir's image at events calling for settlements on Palestinian land.
Ben-Gvir, once shut out of parliament, now draws attention through staged visits to prisons and detention centres, where his confrontations spread widely online. The question for October 27 is whether the young turnout and their far-right leanings will combine to reshape the country's direction.
Israel is heading into its first national election in four years with a record number of first-time voters, and most of the Jewish ones are leaning right. According to the Central Elections Committee, more than half a million voters aged 18 to 22 have been added to the rolls since the 2022 vote. Polls suggest 80 percent of them plan to cast a ballot in the legislative election on October 27.
The direction of that vote runs against a pattern seen among young people in many other countries. A recent poll for Israel's Channel 12 found that around three quarters of Jewish first-time voters describe themselves as right or centre-right. That is significantly higher than the share in the wider Israeli population, which has itself been moving rightward for years. The label "Generation Right" has begun to circulate for this cohort, though it refers only to Jewish youth, not to the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank, found that although these young Israelis are not especially active in politics or public life, a majority of young Jews believe the ballot box can change reality and shape the country's future. The same survey found that social media and messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram are key sources of political information for them, and that content often reaches them through their feeds rather than through deliberate searching.
The election is the first since the October 7, 2023 attack. It is contentious and polarising, and it will decide the political survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving leader in Israel's history. His critics accuse him of leaning on far-right politicians to stay in power. They point to his decision to give key posts to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which they say strengthened those camps and pulled their policies into the mainstream. In 2017, Smotrich set out a vision in which only Israelis hold self-determination, while Palestinians must emigrate, remain without political representation, or be treated as terrorists if they reject both. In 2022 he gained a role in the defence ministry, where, the report says, he facilitates land grabs and supports the settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank.
Some of that outlook shows up in how young people talk. The satirist Lior Schleien, a left-wing activist, visits schools and speaks with teenagers, often before their army service. One of his videos showed a young man saying he would kill Arabs in Israel. Asked how, he answered, "Give me a knife and I will do it." Asked whether October 7 had changed his views, he said he had always been racist. His face was partly covered, and Schleien removed the video after public backlash. At another town hall, a female student, after Schleien denied that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, asked whether he thought it should be done. Her friend chuckled beside her.
Not every young voter sees things this way. At a meeting of young supporters of the left-leaning Democrats party in Tel Aviv, 18-year-old Gili told AFP that Israeli society had given up on the idea of peace. She said the scars of October 7 left people afraid and unable to believe peace is attainable. Many observers say the rightward move began well before that attack, though it may have accelerated it.
A Yedioth Ahronoth survey found that more than 16 percent of new voters plan to vote for far-right parties. One of them is 18-year-old Amihai, who stood in a field in southern Israel wearing a shirt bearing Ben-Gvir's picture. The event called for establishing settlements on Palestinian land, and it overlooked destroyed parts of the Gaza Strip. Amihai said he will vote for Otzma Yehudit, Ben-Gvir's party.
Ben-Gvir failed to clear the threshold in 2020 but won a central role in Netanyahu's 2022 government. He has been convicted of supporting terror organisations and of other offences, yet surveys show a share of his potential backers this time are first-time voters. As minister he often visits jails and detention centres, threatening Palestinian prisoners and international activists while ensuring cameras capture it. The videos frequently go viral, widening his appeal beyond settlers and groups like the Hilltop Youth, some of whose members the EU and UK have sanctioned. The question on October 27 is whether turnout and far-right support among the young help decide the result.
Citations marquantes
Israeli society had abandoned the idea of peace, and October 7 left people too afraid to believe it is achievable.— Gili, 18, Democrats party youth supporter, to AFP
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