How Israel's political labels of right and left have shifted around security and identity

Israeli political labels no longer map onto the classic Western spectrum of taxation and welfare; they are defined by attitudes toward the Palestinians, settlements and the Jewish nature of the state. The historic Labor-Zionist left once championed state-led development, while the Revisionist right, later embodied by Likud, combined nationalism with market reforms. Since the 1990s, especially after Oslo and the second Intifada, security and territorial questions eclipsed economic debates, making the right synonymous with opposition to a Palestinian state and support for settlements.

The October 7, 2023 attacks accelerated this trend, reinforcing a hard-line stance across the right-leaning bloc, including parties such as Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit. Meanwhile, the Zionist centre and remnants of the left, represented by figures like Benny Gantz and parties such as Hadash, still advocate for judicial independence and a negotiated settlement, but their influence has waned. The upcoming election will therefore be framed as a contest between a broadly right-oriented field and a diminished left, with the core dispute focused on how far the rightward shift should extend.