Will Israel's election decide Iran's fate? | Eye for Iran | EP 126 |

Israel heads to the polls next week in what's shaping up to be a highly contested election following three years of war and repeated military confrontations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional proxies.

It's an election that's being watched closely, not only inside of Israel, but actually inside of Iran and across the Iranian diaspora.

Why is that? because the outcome could have profound implications for Iran's future.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a striking declaration just a few days ago, a few days before the vote.

Bringing down the Islamic Republic, he says, is his primary objective.

But what about his political rivals? Where do they stand when it comes to Iran? And can these candidates deliver on it realistically speaking so to help us unpack all of this because it's a really important topic i've assembled an all-star panel we've got yakov cats he's a journalist author former editor-in-chief of the jerusalem post and host of the jewish people's podcast Then we've got Vivian Bercovici.

She's a lawyer, Canada's former ambassador to Israel and host of the State of Tel Aviv podcast.

Itai Reuveni, director of communications and outreach at NGO Monitor.

Itai is also of Iranian heritage and served in the Israeli military's reservist unit fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

and Dr. Eric Mandel, the founder and director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political and Information Network.

All of my guests right now are in Israel.

Vivian, let's begin with you.

Thank you, everyone, for being here.

Vivian, of course, like everyone else on the panel, you're in Israel.

And after three years of war with Israelis heading to the polls next week, describe to me, what is the mood like inside Israel right now?

strange um we're it's a bit like uh i think like a flat tire i think people are quite depleted um after three years of war and intense anxiety and stress and um 30 of the voters are still undecided and we're a few days away from the vote yeah 30%.

That's a huge number.

I read that yesterday.

It is a big number.

It's not unprecedented.

We have in the past seen large quotients like that of undecideds.

But what it tells you is I think that they're having, obviously, a lot of difficulty making up their minds about who to vote for.

Wow.

And so if they're having difficulties making up their mind on who to vote for, and in terms of the priorities and what's important, Yaakov, I'll turn to you for this question.

When Israelis cast their ballot next week, how significant is Iran and the war with Iran when it comes to casting their vote?