150,000 admissions: The box office number that may have cost Netanyahu his seat

Avi Nesher’s film Our Loves drew 150,000 viewers in Israel, a figure that likely exceeds the margin of victory for the anti-Netanyahu bloc in Tuesday’s election. The center-right Yashar party, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, appears to have secured 52 of 120 Knesset seats, edging out the Likud-led government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by two seats. Local television desks report this 52-50 split gives the Change bloc the mandate to form a government, provided it can assemble the remaining nine seats needed for a 61-seat majority.

Nesher released Our Loves two weeks before the vote. The action drama depicts civilians surviving the October 7 Hamas attacks with an absent army and visible security failures. While the film emphasizes patriotism, its portrayal of state failure served as an implicit critique of the sitting government. Nesher, a veteran Israeli filmmaker known for works like Rage and Glory, stated he does not support the Netanyahu administration. "I do not share the government’s point of view at all. I’ll be one of those people who are not voting for this government," he told The Hollywood Reporter at TIFF.

The film’s commercial success resonated with voters, particularly those connected to the war’s human cost. Eisenkot, 66, lost his son fighting in Gaza, a personal loss that paralleled the themes in Our Loves. The film features a tough military character not much younger than the candidate, creating a visual link between the screen and the ballot box. Conversely, Netanyahu’s son has recently resided in Miami, a detail observers noted contrasts with the film’s domestic focus.

A second cultural factor was the documentary NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The film features two dozen IDF whistleblowers detailing how the government conducted the war in Gaza. Although NAZA was not released in Israeli theaters, coverage of the documentary dominated the press in the weeks leading up to the election. The Netanyahu government attempted to counter the film’s impact by threatening to strip the directors of their citizenship, a move analysts suggest lacked a clear legal basis.

The citizenship threat failed to rally the undecided voters Likud needed and may have alienated them. Critics of the government argued the move signaled an intolerance for scrutiny. Meanwhile, the documentary helped mainstream the debate over the war’s conduct, filling op-ed columns following its Venice premiere last month. This sustained media discussion kept the issue of government performance at the forefront of the public discourse during the campaign.

Gal Gadot, the Wonder Woman star and a prominent national figure, also influenced the election outcome. The actress flew from Los Angeles to vote in person on Tuesday. She posted a video on Instagram urging Israelis to head to the polls, noting that approximately 80 percent of eligible voters participated. In the clip, she explicitly stated her preference for the Change bloc over the incumbent government.

Gadot extended her presence into entertainment media by appearing in a sketch on Eretz Nehederet, Israel’s version of Saturday Night Live, which aired on election night while polls were still open. In the skit, she discussed the experience of living in Los Angeles while identifying as Israeli. When asked if it was difficult to be an Israeli abroad, she highlighted the media disparity. "I’m always explaining to people," she said. "What you see there you don’t see here. And what you see here you don’t see there."

The convergence of these cultural elements coincided with the narrow electoral result. The 150,000 admissions for Our Loves represent a substantial share of the voting population, given that each Knesset seat requires approximately 50,000 votes under the current tally. The two-seat margin for the Change bloc aligns closely with the film’s audience size, suggesting a direct correlation between the cultural narrative and the political shift.