Focusing primarily on Israeli voter attitudes with respect to the Zionist-Palestinian conflict, this paper argues that the results of the 2009 elections highlight the structural entanglement of Israeli politics within a colonialist process of “creeping apartheid” not only in the West Bank but in Israel proper. The elections also demonstrated the continuing relevance of identity and class politics among Israeli voters and the trend among culturally and economically marginalized groups to support the colonialist agendas set mainly by the settlers, the military, and parts of the globalizing economic elites. In parallel, election results among Palestinians in Israel reflect their growing alienation from a political system that structurally excludes them from political influence.

Oren Yiftachel is professor of political geography, urban planning, and public policy at Ben-Gurion University, Beersheba, and the author of a number of books, including Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine (Penn Press, 2006).