Prior to October 7, Israeli society was already divided. A right-wing bid for judicial reform led to the largest protests in the country’s history, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party had won an election by relying on the support of far-right parties with a strong base among the country’s working class. Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 has unified broad sections of Israeli society, which have rallied around the flag and disagree only on whether to prioritize hostages or the war’s strategic aims.

In an interview with Suzi Weissmann for the Jacobin Radio podcast, the political scientist Yoav Peled, author of a number of articles on the class structure of Israeli society as well The Religionization of Israeli Society (2018), explains the current state of his country’s politics. While the war has put Israeli society under heavy strain both economically and politically, it has increased the popularity of right-wing parties whose criticism of Netanyahu’s conduct is largely confined to his inability to prosecute the war brutally enough. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.