As the 2026 elections in Israel approached, a television debate between two representatives from “Likud” and “Israel Our Home” turned into a broad political, economic, and security confrontation, affecting the war in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, the high cost of living, judicial reform, and compulsory conscription of the Haredim, all the way to the form of electoral lists, in an early picture of the files that are expected to be at the forefront of the upcoming electoral battle.
According to a report by journalists Moran Azoulay and Sharon Kidon on the Israeli “Ynet” website, the “Election Arena” segment this week hosted Representative Abihai Boaron from “Likud” and Representative Yevgeni Suva from “Israel Our Home,” where they were asked questions related to issues that directly affect the lives of Israelis, away from traditional political headlines.
Boaron is running in his first term in the Knesset, and has emerged particularly prominent in security and settlement issues. He also pushed for a controversial law that stipulates that legal advisors in government ministries are subject to their general directors. As for Suva, he has been a member of the Knesset since 2019, and holds the position of Vice-Speaker of the Knesset, and a permanent alternate member of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, in addition to his membership in the Education, Absorption, and Economy Committees.
In the file of forming electoral lists, Bouaron was asked whether “Likud” is still the most democratic party, in light of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtaining 10 guaranteed places on the list.
Boaron said, “Senior officials in the movement may feel more insulted today, because they see Yisrael Katz, as well as Haim Katz, getting guaranteed places at their expense,” adding: “As for us, the younger generation in the group, we say to ourselves: Excellent, two additional places will become available.”
In response to considering this mechanism closer to an “appointment committee,” he said: “I do not think so. When we are talking about a prime minister and a leader of a movement with deep roots, and with 140,000 members, allocating a number of places does not undermine democracy in the entire movement.”
As for Sova, whose party list is determined by Avigdor Lieberman, he said: “I have been a political reporter like you for 16 years, and I have been in the Knesset for 7 years, and I can tell you endless stories about vote contractors, funds, and all the deals. And by the way, even in Likud, there are quite a few people who complain about the deals.”
Here Boaron told him: “Avigdor Lieberman was the General Director of the Likud,” and Suva replied: “He was an excellent General Director of the Likud, and there are those who still miss him in this position. These elections are not related to the Likud list, but rather between the coalition of those who serve, which we represent, and the coalition of evaders.”
The discussion turned to the war in Gaza after three years of fighting, and Bouaron was asked why “absolute victory” had not been achieved in the Strip.
He said: “I disagree with this description. We are present in 70% of the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has its tail between its legs, and we are hitting it and hitting it and hitting it. Today we are talking about cells, not an organized military force as it was on October 7.”
He added: “We have achieved 3 out of 4 goals of the war. We crushed Hamas, and there is no threat to the towns of the south, and there are no attacks on Israel. The only thing we have not achieved yet is the disarmament of the Gaza Strip, and we will not withdraw a single centimeter from that 70% that we control now, before the Gaza Strip is disarmed, either by force or by agreement.”
When asked if “an absolute victory over Hamas” had been achieved, he said: “An almost absolute victory has been achieved, and I say almost absolute because I want to make clear that absolute will be achieved with the disarmament of the Gaza Strip, and we are certainly on the way to that.”
Sova responded, saying: “I did not boycott Bouaron for a simple reason, because his positions are closer to Yisrael Our Home than to the head of his party.”
He added: “Netanyahu did not resolve Hamas in 3 years. When the war was imposed on us on October 7, Avigdor Lieberman wanted to enter the war council, and Netanyahu did not want to see him there. This is a fact.”
He continued: “If there had been, it is likely that Hamas today would not have been rebuilding its strength, would not have recruited 40,000 people, and hundreds of trucks would not have entered every day. In testing the result, Israel did not succeed in defeating an armed organization in Gaza. We have never fought a war with this degree of ineffectiveness.”
Sova added: “If Netanyahu had not been leading this process, the outcome in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran would have been much, much better.”
He continued: “The people who failed on October 7, the government that did not stand up and did not wake up, and the prime minister who did not form an official investigation committee to examine the failures, cannot reform. They cannot reform.”
Regarding the cost of living issue, Bouaron was asked why prices do not decrease in stores, and he replied: “I do not have the professional tools. I hear Economy Minister Nir Barkat talking about reducing prices in stores, and perhaps we feel that on the sidelines.”
He added: “In the field of construction, we see that housing prices do not rise for a long time, and in certain places they also decline.”
He continued: “Personally, among the 4 laws I passed during two years in the Knesset, one of them was specifically related to the high cost of living, which is the deposit law, which allows Israelis to deposit their money in fixed deposits in any bank, and this saves a few hundred shekels for the family annually.”
He said, “There is a lot that needs to be done, and the high cost of living has certainly been affected by the war that we have all lived through during the past 3 years and are still living through,” adding: “It can be said that despite the national crises that we have experienced during the past 3 years, we have maintained a stable, developed, and growing economy.”
Sova responded, saying: “This is not a magic solution. Contrary to what Abihai says, there are tools. Israel today ranks second in the world in terms of the cost of living, preceded only by Switzerland. This is a fact.”
He added: “The problem is underestimating the intelligence of the public. I will give several points explaining why, from my point of view, this government failed on the cost of living issue.”
He continued: “The conscription law is part of the solution to the high cost of living, because if you do not increase the labor force in the job market, and if you do not introduce people from entire sectors into the labor market, and we know that 50% of the Haredim are not in the labor market or work on the black market, then you are practically imposing an additional burden on the public that works and pays taxes.”
In the discussion on the judiciary, Bouaroun was asked whether the government’s steps were causing irreparable damage to the judicial system.
He said: “No one sanctifies the war on the judicial system or the Supreme Court in principle. It is not that you woke up in the morning and decided to destroy the judicial system.”
He added: “But also on the left there are voices that say that we must reform the judicial system in a way that enables the elected level to implement its policy through an administrative apparatus that helps it implement it, that is, public service employees, without the court repeatedly blocking appointments, government decisions, legislation and basic laws.”
Commenting on the Supreme Court’s cancellation of the Knesset’s election of Michael Rabelio as state comptroller, Boaron said: “The court should not have interfered in the appointments. If Rabelio had asked me, I would have told him: Enter the position of state comptroller and begin your work.”
Sova responded: “Abihai, you are not looking at the root of the problem. I also believe that the judicial system needs reform, but reform, not a takeover of the judicial system.”
He added: “We in our home Israel have one solution. Lieberman founded the party in 1999, and it was the first time he spoke about drawing up a constitution for Israel.”
He continued: “We are saying something simple: After we form the government, we will be given 6 months to prepare a constitution that regulates the relationship between the Knesset and the court, and also regulates the relationship between religion and the state.”
Regarding the Haredi file, the two sides were asked whether Lieberman’s positions lead to a religious war.
Bouaron turned to Suva and said, in reference to a famous statement by Lieberman: “You want to take the Haredim to the garbage by cart, Yevgeny.”
He added: “There is absolutely no connection between Netanyahu’s files, which we see disintegrating and dissolving, and reform. You yourself say that reform of the judicial system is required. Do not link the matter to the prime minister’s files.”
He continued: “Even Lieberman, when he was Minister of Defense and wanted to close Army Radio, the government’s attorney general came to him and said to him: ‘You will not close Army Radio.’ And I know how frustrating that was for Lieberman, when he was Minister of Defense and was unable to implement his policy.”
Sova responded: “When we were in the government and he was Minister of Finance, we wanted to change the list of priorities, including the file of cuts in childcare, but the court stopped him as Minister of Finance.”
He added: “What did he do? He said: I respect the Supreme Court’s decision, and we will change that the following year. The moment a government minister says he will not comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, he is inviting chaos.”
Boaron attacked “Israel Our Home”’s position on the Haredim, saying: “You exclude and exclude entire sectors in Israel.”
Suva responded: “We will form a Zionist coalition. I am not boycotting the public, but I am boycotting those who stand on the Knesset podium and say: We will die and we will not enlist.”
At the conclusion of the confrontation, the two representatives were asked to reveal something that the public did not know about them.
Bouaroun said: “In my civilian life, I am a publisher of magazines intended for traditional audiences, children, women, and others. I was previously a photographer for the Nikoda newspaper for 3 years, a still photographer.”
As for Sova, he said: “People do not believe that I immigrated to Israel at the age of 17. Throughout my childhood I played chess professionally, and I was the regional champion in Ukraine 5 times, and I am nominated for the rank of professor.”
He added: “I told Elkin several times, ‘Come play with me, and let us decide who is the best deputy in chess, but he does not want to play with me.’”
Sova concluded by saying: “I believe that chess helps thinking, and I would also like to introduce it into the educational system, so that there are compulsory lessons in every school, at least in the first, second and third grades, and not only English, mathematics and computers, but chess as well.”
Thus, the debate showed that the 2026 elections will not only revolve around the person of Netanyahu or traditional party alignments, but rather around the outcome of 3 years of war, the cost of living, the form of the relationship between the judiciary and politics, and the identity of who serves and pays taxes and who participates in the labor market, and these are files that seem likely to become central confrontation lines in the upcoming election campaigns.
