From 'Chtchatchachim' to 'The Arabs Are Flocking': 10 Moments That Shook Israeli Elections

An i24NEWS report reviews ten political moments from Israeli election campaigns, from 1981 to 2022, and examines whether they truly decided the outcome. The conclusion: last-minute moments tend to mobilize existing voters within a camp, rather than convincing voters to switch sides. The article warns against the simplistic story of 'the moment that decided the elections.'

An i24NEWS report reviews ten political moments from Israeli election campaigns, from 1981 to 2022, and examines whether they truly decided the outcome. The moments include Menachem Begin's response to Dudu Topaz's 'Chtchatchachim' slur in 1981, Benjamin Netanyahu's 'The Arabs Are Flocking' video in 2015, and Itamar Ben-Gvir's gun-drawing in Sheikh Jarrah in 2022. The article notes that in many cases, such as Ben-Gvir's, polls did not change significantly after the event. The main conclusion is that last-minute moments tend to mobilize existing voters within a camp, rather than convincing voters to switch sides. The article warns against the simplistic story of 'the moment that decided the elections,' emphasizing that this is a convenient way to explain a complex result, but not necessarily the real reason.