If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is easier to enlist than the Charedim, Israel has a problem
It is increasingly clear that the October election will be about more than politics and security. It will be about Israel’s soul as hard liners and extremists who would once have been shunned are handed…
Assessment
The piece argues that Israel's political landscape has shifted so dramatically that figures once considered beyond the pale are now being embraced, while internal divisions over military service deepen. The October election is framed as a referendum on national identity, not just policy. The comparison between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Charedim suggests a crisis of priorities, where ideological purity is sacrificed for coalition math. The reader should watch how mainstream parties respond to this trade off.