Date: Thursday 08 October | Location: Online Webinar | Time: 14:00 – 15:00 (UTC+1)

As Israel’s election approaches on October 27, we will be joined by Gregg Carlstrom, a Middle East correspondent for The Economist, to consider the likely outcomes and implications as Israelis go to the polls for the first time since the October 7 attacks in 2023.

Gregg is an expert on domestic Israeli politics and the author of the 2017 book, How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within. In the run up to the election we will be taking a look at the latest polls and considering the following questions and topics:

• Will Netanyahu prevail again?
• Who is Gadi Eisenkot and does his Yashar party have a realistic chance of ending the Netanyahu era?
• What is the likely role of key potential kingmakers including Naftali Bennett?
• Where will the religious and the extreme right wing lend their support?
• The role of the US, Trump and the Democrats and how shifting support for Israel may bear out after the midterms.
• Likely election outcomes and their implications for regional security.
• How much of Netanyahu’s foreign policy will survive Netanyahu? To what extent is Israel’s current foreign policy driven by his personal ideology or interest?
• What is the likely future of the Abraham Accords and Israel’s relations with the Arab world?
• What might the election mean for the Israeli economy?

Speaker

Gregg Carlstrom is a Middle East correspondent for The Economist, based in Dubai. He has covered the region for more than 15 years, with previous stints in Beirut, Cairo and Tel Aviv.

He is a frequent guest on major television and radio networks and a regular speaker to public- and private-sector audiences. His work has also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic and other publications. His first book, on Israel’s domestic political schisms, was published in 2017.