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Position paper by Mtanes Shihadeh analyzing the political landscape ahead of Israel's 2026 elections, arguing that the dominance of the traditional right-wing policy platform on Palestinian rights will continue regardless of their outcome. The paper looks at the broad Israeli consensus across mainstream political parties supporting settlement expansion, military control of the West Bank, opposition to Palestinian statehood, and the weakening of the Palestinian Authority, with no major party offering a fundamentally different platform than Netanyahu's Likud party. Shihadeh also examines the contested role of Palestinian Arab political parties in future governing coalitions, domestic policy disputes as the primary drivers of the upcoming election, and the effective removal of Palestinian rights from mainstream debate. Relevant for research on Israeli domestic politics, Palestinian citizens of Israel, the Netanyahu government, and Israeli society. This paper was jointly published by Mada al-Carmel and Arab Center Washington DC.
