Do not wait for the election results. Our problem is not Netanyahu alone, even if he is the worst leader in Israel’s history. (Israel ) does not act in isolation. It enjoys the backing of a wider Zionist movement and powerful political allies who could have used their influence to stop the genocide in Gaza. They could have pressed Netanyahu and Israel’s leadership to change course before destroying the carefully manufactured image they had spent nearly eighty years promoting. These supporters have considerable political, diplomatic and institutional influence in some of the world’s most powerful countries. They have tools to protect what they consider their interests and Israel’s future—and to exert pressure to stop the genocide. Yet that pressure never materialised in any meaningful way. This suggests a willingness to embrace a different Israel: one that asserts its power through brutality and domination, disregards public opinion and international institutions, and pursues ever more extreme political and military policies. Whether Netanyahu wins, Eisenkot takes his place, or even the most liberal, left-wing contender comes to power, Israel cannot simply recover its former image. Any successor will face powerful incentives to continue along the same path. A meaningful change would require confronting international accountability, reviving a genuine political process and, before anything else, acknowledging the immense crime committed in Gaza and accepting its consequences at home and abroad. Yet some Arab and Palestinian politicians and commentators continue to suggest that Netanyahu’s electoral defeat would, in itself, be good news: the beginning of a solution and an improvement in Palestinian lives. Even an opposition advantage in the polls would not guarantee that outcome. It could produce another political deadlock, with neither camp able to form a government. Netanyahu could remain in office as caretaker prime minister pending another election. Alternatively, a unity government could give him the first two years of a rotating premiership. In my view, Trump’s talk of allowing Netanyahu to “finish the job” points to something far beyond Gaza: consolidating Israeli dominance across the region. That ambition extends well beyond Netanyahu and his immediate allies. So our message to politicians and analysts is this: stop selling false hope. Demand that our leaders prepare for worse. What began in Gaza has exposed what the international system is prepared to tolerate—and how little it can do to stop or punish perpetrators when they possess overwhelming power and powerful protection. Once that impunity is accepted, what meaningful barrier remains against still greater atrocities, even the unthinkable prospect of genocide through nuclear weapons? Our nations and peoples need to wake up and prepare to confront Israel’s expansionist policies and encroachment on Arab territory. Its influence has already penetrated the calculations of leaders and political elites, drawing them into a world of evasion and deception marketed as cooperation, normalisation and the Abraham Accords. A change of government in Israel is no substitute for justice, accountability or a change in the balance of power. Our future cannot depend on who wins its next election.