‘Generation Right’: Israeli youth show strong support for the right

Key points

• More than half a million voters aged 18 to 22 were added to Israel's electoral roll since 2022.
• About three quarters of Jewish first-time voters identify as right or centre-right, a Channel 12 poll found.
• A Yedioth Ahronoth survey shows over 16 percent of new voters plan to back far-right parties.

Israel's October 27 legislative election, the first since the October 7, 2023 attack, includes a record number of first-time voters, according to the Israeli Central Elections Committee. More than half a million people aged 18 to 22 were added to the roll since the 2022 elections, and polls indicate 80 percent of them intend to vote.

Recent polling suggests these young Jewish voters lean strongly to the right. A Channel 12 poll found around three quarters of Jewish first-time voters identified as right or centre-right, well above the general population. The label Generation Right is now used for Israel's Jewish youth, though not for Palestinian citizens of Israel.

What young voters say

The Israel Democracy Institute found most young Jewish Israelis believe voting can shape the country's future. A Yedioth Ahronoth survey showed more than 16 percent of new voters plan to cast ballots for far-right parties. At a Tel Aviv meeting of the left-leaning Democrats party, 18-year-old Gili told AFP that Israeli society had abandoned the idea of peace, saying the scars of October 7 had instilled fear.

Satirist Lior Schleien, a left-wing activist, has filmed visits to schools before students' army service. In one video, a young man says he would kill Arabs, and when asked whether October 7 changed his views, answers: "I've always been racist." Schleien removed the video after a public backlash.

I've always been racist

— a young man in a video by satirist Lior Schleien

Ben-Gvir and the far right

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, has built youth support through viral videos filmed in jails and detention centres. In southern Israel, 18-year-old Amihai, wearing a shirt with Ben-Gvir's photo, said he plans to vote for Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party.

Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuse him of empowering far-right politicians to stay in power, citing positions given to Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The IDI survey found social media and messaging apps are key news sources for young people, often exposing them to political content through their feeds.