How would a Netanyahu election loss change Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians?

By Lina Obeid and Tamar Uriel-Beeri JERUSALEM, Oct 22 (Reuters) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main opponent Gadi Eisenkot both oppose an independent Palestinian state, meaning next week s election is unlikely to produce a sweeping shift in policies that have hampered a decades-old peace process. Three years since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, they also share hawkish positions towards Gaza, saying they would resume the war there if ​the militant group, whose founding charter calls for Israel s destruction, doesn t disarm. But they differ on their positions on settlements in the occupied West ‌Bank, and are likely to rely on different coalition partners to form governments, which could broadly set the country on diverging paths. Here s a look at the candidates views on the conflict with the Palestinians: WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS Hundreds of thousands of Israelis live in the West Bank, settling in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war, a practice nearly all countr