{"id":52797,"date":"2025-09-25T19:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/bennett-eisenkots-change-bloc-could-redefine-israels-future-say-leading-scholars\/25\/09\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T19:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:04:22","slug":"bennett-eisenkots-change-bloc-could-redefine-israels-future-say-leading-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/bennett-eisenkots-change-bloc-could-redefine-israels-future-say-leading-scholars\/25\/09\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Bennett, Eisenkot&#8217;s &#8216;Change Bloc&#8217; could redefine Israel\u2019s future, say leading scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Professors Uriel Abulof and Yossi Shain tell The Media Line that the opposition\u2019s fate hinges on legitimacy, unity, and courage to build a true democratic alternative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As Israel\u2019s opposition leaders seek to resurrect the so-called Change Bloc, two of the country\u2019s most prominent political thinkers, one bluntly alarmist, the other cautiously hopeful, offered diverging views of its future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Speaking with <em>The Media Line<\/em>, Prof. Uriel Abulof of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/israel-news\/culture\/article-865154\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Tel Aviv University;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Tel Aviv University<\/a>, also a visiting professor at Cornell University, and Prof. Yossi Shain, a renowned Israeli scholar, former member of the Israeli Parliament for Yisrael Beytenu, and emeritus professor at Georgetown and Tel Aviv University, dissected the bloc\u2019s challenges and its chances of becoming a viable alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s religious-nationalist coalition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThe Change Bloc could redefine Israel\u2019s future,\u201d both men agreed. However, for Abulof, it can only happen if the opposition embraces direct democracy and confronts its exclusion of Arab parties. At the same time, Shain sees it as the natural foundation of a centrist, patriotic coalition capable of reshaping Israel\u2019s democratic identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Abulof did not mince words. \u201cRight now Israel is conducting itself effectively as a dictatorship,\u201d he told<em>The Media Line<\/em>. \u201cThere is one individual, Netanyahu, and basically all the substantial decisions in the country are made by that single individual. The only possible balancing out of Netanyahu\u2019s will comes from the judicial system, and that is already quite substantially weakened compared to how it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For him, the bloc\u2019s first task is not merely to swap leaders but to restore what he calls \u201creal democracy,\u201d referendums, citizen assemblies, and institutions that ensure \u201cthe voice of the people truly matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen at the opening ceremony of the new Knesset museum, in Jerusalem, August 11, 2025 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Shain, by contrast, painted a more pragmatic picture. In his view, the opposition is not leaderless but slowly converging around a coherent vision. \u201cWhat exists today in Israel is a centrist right-wing coalition that is emerging,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt strives to establish constitutional principles, to ensure that everybody will serve national service &#8211; either in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or otherwise- and to create a commission that investigates the colossal failure of October 7.\u201d For Shain, these shared goals are enough to form the nucleus of a patriotic Zionist bloc with liberal orientation, distinct from Netanyahu\u2019s alliance of ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist factions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Both scholars acknowledged the Change Bloc\u2019s current configuration: a potential lineup of Yair Lapid, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/lapid-eisenkot-liberman-golan-officially-224243549.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Avigdor Liberman;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Avigdor Liberman<\/a>, Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eisenkot, and Yair Golan. But where Shain sees diversity converging into centrist patriotism, Abulof sees hollow leadership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cGantz is just hot air,\u201d he said of former defense minister Benny Gantz, once leading the polls but now struggling to cross the electoral threshold. \u201cSometimes people would like to have some hot air, it feels warm and nice and cozy. But there is nothing behind it\u2026 He is most likely to evaporate from Israeli politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Shain agreed that Gantz\u2019s decline was inevitable, though he framed it differently: \u201cBenny Gantz was trying every time to appease all sides. Once, he went with Netanyahu to the coalition because of national security. At other times, he wavered between oppositional and more state-oriented statements. But by and large, Benny Gantz is a very weak leader. Netanyahu overmaneuvered him. And right now, it\u2019s very questionable whether Benny Gantz will even cross the threshold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The question of Arab representation became a sharp fault line in Abulof\u2019s analysis. He lamented that, unlike the original Change Bloc of 2021, today\u2019s iteration excludes Arab parties. \u201cThat is a troubling development,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the bloc is unwilling to collaborate with the Arabs, even to the extent of forming a minority government supported from the outside, then it will perpetuate Netanyahu\u2019s rule. Some will eventually yield and join him simply because they don\u2019t want to be associated with the Arabs. That\u2019s the most damaging lesson they could have learned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Shain acknowledged this tension but placed it in a wider historical frame. He described Netanyahu\u2019s coalition as \u201cclannish,\u201d built on a pact with ultra-Orthodox factions who provide him with political survival in exchange for economic subsidies and blanket exemptions from military service. For Shain, the contrast is stark: \u201cThe current coalition is antiquated, religious, ultra-Orthodox, and anti-Zionist. The Change Bloc represents the modern future of Israel, patriotic, Zionist, and liberal.\u201d He added that Meretz, once a fixture of the left, has \u201cevaporated,\u201d leaving the real competition in the political center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Abulof, meanwhile, turned to history and theology to warn of Netanyahu\u2019s hold on segments of the public. He described Netanyahu as a modern-day Shabtai Tzvi, a false messiah who emerged after the 17th-century pogroms of Khmelnytsky, and noted that some of the prime minister\u2019s supporters even refer to him as Moshiach ben Yosef, the precursor messiah in Jewish tradition. \u201cIt\u2019s a profound sign of the religious and messianic undercurrents driving Israeli politics today,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you have a moral void, beliefs rush in to fill it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Shift since October 7<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The scholars also clashed on whether Israeli society has shifted ideologically since the war in Gaza erupted on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/tags\/the-october-7-massacre\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:October 7, 2023;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">October 7, 2023<\/a>. Abulof dismissed the widespread narrative of a \u201cturn to the right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWhat we do see is an emotional drift,\u201d he argued, a decline in empathy toward Arabs, \u201cbut ideologically, half or more of Israelis still say yes to a Palestinian state in polls. To call this a shift to the right is simply inaccurate.\u201d For him, the problem is not left versus right, but a deeper \u201ccrisis of legitimacy,\u201d shared by both the government and the opposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Shain, however, insisted that the bloc\u2019s power lies precisely in transcending old ideological labels. He identified in Lapid, Liberman, and Bennett a centrist-right orientation grounded in Zionism, while Golan represents a patriotic center-left. This diversity, he said, \u201cis the basis for crafting the new agenda for Israel\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Where Abulof warns of Netanyahu dragging Israel into what he likens to a Spartan state, \u201ca nationalization of everything for the task of combating the enemies,\u201d as he put it, Shain envisions an Israel that recommits to constitutional norms and pluralism. Where Abulof calls for referendums to empower citizens directly, Shain emphasizes the need for unity among Zionist, liberal forces to safeguard the country from what he calls \u201cantiquated religious clannishness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Their contrasting tones highlight the paradox facing Israel\u2019s opposition. Abulof\u2019s bluntness shocks: \u201cIsrael is not really a democracy,\u201d he said, adding that most countries aren\u2019t either. For him, the opposition\u2019s greatest challenge is to make it one. Shain\u2019s optimism reassures: a centrist coalition is not only possible but already taking shape, he argued, drawing legitimacy from its commitment to service, accountability, and liberal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/opinion\/article-868542\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Zionism.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Zionism.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">What unites them, however, is the recognition that Netanyahu\u2019s coalition has hollowed out Israel\u2019s democratic fabric, and that only a credible, united bloc can present an alternative. Whether that bloc will dare to cross its red lines on Arab partnership, or instead retreat into fragmentation and personal rivalries, may decide not only the next election but the very character of the Israeli state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/bennett-eisenkots-change-bloc-could-223218991.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professors Uriel Abulof and Yossi Shain tell The Media Line that the opposition&rsquo;s fate hinges on legitimacy, unity, and courage to build<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/bennett-eisenkots-change-bloc-could-redefine-israels-future-say-leading-scholars\/25\/09\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/jerusalem_post_articles_818\/74ef7ba90f831c1e10cd5ae9865d44cf","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}