Northern Border Communities Weaken Support for Netanyahu as Election Approaches

NAHARIYA, Israel — On Israel’s border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets and drones, former supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reconsidering their ballots in the first post-war election.

“Many I know were right-wing and were Bibi supporters, and today they’re not,” said plant nursery owner Sigal Malachi, using a nickname for Israel’s longest-serving premier.

In traditional bastions of Netanyahu support, many residents told AFP they could no longer back his right-wing administration in the Oct. 27 vote, accusing it of failing to secure a lasting truce with the militants.

Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in October 2023 in support of Hamas following the deadliest attack in the nation’s history.

The bombardment upended life in northern communities, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis and compelling business owners such as Malachi to close their establishments for several years.

While northern residents are accustomed to incoming fire from across the Lebanese border, they contend that this latest round of conflict was far more intense.

“We grew up with Katyushas (rockets) and bombs,” said Malachi, whose plant nursery reopened in March.

“This war was different.”

She described that “if you went outside, within a second you’d be running” for shelter.

The fighting ended with a fragile ceasefire in November 2024, though evacuees were not permitted to return until early 2025.

Daily life began to normalize, only for the northern front to flare up again after the outbreak of the Iran war.

Zarbaylov, a Nahariya resident born in the former Soviet Union, is among those wavering in their allegiance.

“All my life I voted for (Likud), for Bibi Netanyahu… But this year I want to vote for (Gadi) Eisenkot,” he said, referring to the former military chief who is Netanyahu’s main election rival.

Hezbollah has repeatedly drawn Lebanon into clashes with Israel, most recently in March when it fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran.

Israel has in turn occupied what it describes as a “security zone” in Lebanon, where officials state its operations have killed more than 4,300 people.

At least 48 Israeli civilians and 30 soldiers have died on the Lebanese front since 2023.

‘PSYCHOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE’

The extended violence has left border residents in a state of uncertainty.

“After October 7 we don’t sleep well anymore,” Malachi said.

“I’ve thought about leaving. But the roots are so deep that I’m staying.”

In Shlomi, an Israeli border town, the enemy remains a tangible presence behind a hill.

Shadi Tuma, who operates a supermarket there, takes pride in being the only one to remain open.

“This area is under a trauma we haven’t seen before. There’s anger. The government is unable to provide a comprehensive response,” he said.

“It’s a huge psychological catastrophe. Not everyone is able to cope with a war that lasts three years.”

Tuma stated the conflict has fractured the local support base for Netanyahu.

In the 2022 elections, the premier’s Likud party secured 43 percent of the vote in Shlomi, compared with 23 percent nationwide.

Residents who backed Netanyahu “now want change because they no longer trust this government,” Tuma said.

He noted the rising cost of living as a major grievance.

“Many people I see are struggling to make it to the end of the month.”

For Tuma, the conflict is also personal.

He was born in Lebanon as the son of a fighter in the South Lebanon Army, a militia that allied with Israel in the 1980s and granted many of its fighters Israeli citizenship.

‘FEEL PROTECTED’

The war could alter longstanding political loyalties in towns like Nahariya, a quiet resort of approximately 70,000 people.

In 2022, 38 percent of voters there chose Likud.

Yet Zarbaylov expressed anger over the failure to stop Hamas’ unprecedented assault.

“What happened on October 7, Bibi could have prevented it, but he didn’t,” he said.

“The army, the top commanders, the chief of staff, could have prevented it.”

Other residents believe only the current hawkish coalition can ensure their safety.

Patrice Haddad retired to Nahariya from Paris a year ago, attracted by the town’s “charm.”

Israel’s “Law of Return” permits any Jew anywhere in the world to immigrate and automatically receive citizenship.

Adjusting to life under the rockets was not simple at first.

“We were told we had 30 seconds to find shelter” after sirens blared, he said. “In reality, sometimes we only had 15, sometimes less.”

For his first election as an Israeli, he has made his decision.

“The left in Israel has done a lot of harm, it wanted to give up territories,” he said.

“It’s important to vote for the right, because for me, with a government like Netanyahu’s, we will feel protected.”

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