Why Israel’s election was a moment of Palestinian unity
Abed Abou Shhadeh writes in +972 on 5 November 2026:
Editors’ note: On Tuesday night, Israeli police and Shin Bet officers abducted Abed Abou Shhadeh from his home in Jaffa, without initially providing any reason or disclosing his whereabouts. At a court hearing the following day, a judge extended his detention until Nov. 8, with the state claiming that it is investigating him on suspicion of “contacting a foreign agent.”
+972 Magazine stands in solidarity with Abed — our friend, colleague, and frequent contributor — and against this blatant act of political persecution. We are proud to publish the following article, which he drafted prior to his arrest.
In their latest book, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor identify an important phenomenon that is often overlooked in attempts to understand the processes of fascistization around the world. Tech oligarchs and right-wing leaders, they argue, seek to cultivate a constant sense of impending catastrophe to justify fascist policies as essential for survival. This is the idea of “end times fascism.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as a modern fascist leader, employs a similar tactic. Just a few days before the election, he shared an AI-generated image on Instagram depicting atomic bombs falling on Tel Aviv. The message was clear: The end of the world is just around the corner, and only Netanyahu can prevent it.
Facing this worldview, which reduces the future to a single catastrophic outcome, it is worth examining the deeper trends that emerged in the recent Israeli elections. Some are dangerous; others offer the possibility of a better future. The likelihood of the latter depends on our capacity for action — our ability to identify historical processes, understand their significance, and act to shape a different path forward, one far more optimistic than the one the right wing wants us to imagine.
One development that has received little attention, and that I believe holds tremendous political potential, is the interest of Palestinians in the occupied territories in the Israeli elections. Never before have so many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including political prisoners, urged Palestinian citizens of Israel to vote.