Diaspora Jews Voice Fear Over How Israel's Election Could Affect Them Abroad

As Israelis headed to the polls, Jews living abroad followed the vote closely, aware that the result could shape how they are seen in their own countries. Several Diaspora figures told The Jerusalem Post they feared the outcome would deepen the habit of treating Israel's government and Jews worldwide as one and the same.

Robert Hercz, head of B'nai B'rith Norway, said he was "terrified: not only for the future of Israel, but also for how the election will affect Jewry worldwide." He argued that Europe is disproportionately occupied with Israeli politics, and that much of the media coverage is oversimplified and polarized. Politicians, he said, also feed voter bases that favor attacking Israel.

If Benjamin Netanyahu wins, Hercz said, politicians and media in Europe "will go crazy," with extremely negative consequences for Jews outside Israel. On Norway specifically, he said relations would not improve while Netanyahu remains in office. The reason, in his view, is not necessarily Israeli politics but the fact that Norwegian institutions are so invested in anti-Netanyahu rhetoric that they cannot shift until he leaves.

Mark Freedman, who has worked as a Jewish communal professional for 43 years, said "the sands have shifted beneath our feet." He noted that lay leaders once took a largely neutral stance toward Israeli elections. What has changed, he said, is the return of an old form of antisemitism that holds Jews in North America collectively responsible for the Israeli government's actions, which gives them a greater stake in the result.

Freedman pointed to local politics as one place where this shows up, citing municipalities that now adopt resolutions criticizing Israel as racist and genocidal, something he said would have been unheard of 15 or 20 years ago. He believes a new Israeli government could bring an "incremental shift" in a positive direction, and called the divisions inside Israel "heartbreaking."

Arielle Shturman Waiss, a physician from Mexico City and founder of ConCiencia Project, described Netanyahu's international image as a "permanent flashpoint." She said that perception attaches to Diaspora Jews because the public increasingly fails to separate what is Israeli, what is Jewish and what is legitimate criticism of a government. His victory, she said, creates a presumption that Diaspora Jews endorse him by choice. "A citizenry's vote of a complex parliamentary structure is not a mandate over the identity of an entire people," she stressed.

Deborah Apeloig, a Venezuelan founder of Tikun Talks, said events in Israel have been felt with a different intensity since October 8, 2023, the day she says the narrative began shifting against Israel while people were still trying to comprehend the massacre. Working across Latin America, she has seen how quickly developments in Israel turn into judgments about Jews everywhere.

Apeloig said she has received hundreds of thousands of meaningful messages from non-Jewish people whose views have shifted, alongside comments demonizing Netanyahu or using statements by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to condemn a whole country and Jews collectively. She said a radical politician's words can send those building bridges "ten steps backward."

Though she cannot vote, Apeloig said the election matters greatly to her. "The decisions belong to Israeli citizens, but their impact reaches far beyond Israel's borders," she said, adding that she hopes it brings leadership that strengthens Israel and helps heal its divisions.