Israelis go to the polls on October ۲۷ to elect the ۲۶th Knesset, in the first general vote since the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the wars on Lebanon and Iran.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, with ۱۹ years in office, is seeking another term while standing trial on corruption charges. His Likud party and the far-right coalition it leads are locked in a close race with a Jewish-led opposition bloc, with neither side appearing on track to win an outright majority in the ۱۲۰-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
About ۷.۳ million people aged ۱۸ and above are eligible to vote, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee. Most polling stations open from ۷am to ۱۰pm, and anyone still queuing when they close is entitled to vote. Election day is a national holiday.
Any party clearing an electoral threshold of ۳.۲۵ percent enters parliament, which sits for a four-year term. There are no term limits for a prime minister.
How voting works
Israelis vote for a party, not a candidate.
A majority requires ۶۱ of the ۱۲۰ seats and no party has ever won that outright. Finishing first does not guarantee power. Parties then have ۲۸ days, with a possible extension of up to ۱۴ days, to assemble a coalition reaching ۶۱. If nobody manages it, the country votes again.
Seats are shared out in proportion to each party’s share of the national vote, so a party winning ۳۰ percent of votes takes roughly ۳۰ percent of seats. The votes for parties failing to secure ۳.۲۵ percent are discarded, which explains why small parties routinely merge before every election.
Who can and cannot vote?
About ۷.۳ million Israeli citizens are eligible to vote in this election, but they are not the only adults living under the government they choose.
Roughly three million adult Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem have no vote in the government that controls their borders, movement and legal status.
Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel, who number about ۱.۲ million, can vote. So can adult settlers among the more than ۷۵۰,۰۰۰ Israelis living in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, who help elect the parliament that legislates over the land they live on.
Most Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem hold Israeli residency, not citizenship. They can vote for Jerusalem’s city council but not for the Knesset.
The result is a sharp anomaly in the occupied West Bank, where a settler votes and a Palestinian family living nearby, under the same military authority, does not.
Most Israeli citizens living abroad also cannot vote, because Israel has no general absentee ballot and requires voters to be physically in the country on election day. Diplomats and state emissaries are the exception, casting their ballots at Israeli missions on October ۲۰.
What are the main issues?
Israelis are dealing with a series of domestic and international issues this election cycle, including:
- October ۷ security failures – Three years on, the government is yet to form a state commission of inquiry into the events of October ۷, ۲۰۲۳, when a Hamas-headed attack led to the killing of some ۱,۲۰۰ people, with about ۲۵۰ taken captive. Israel launched the genocidal war against Palestinians in the wake of the attack, killing at least ۷۴,۰۰۰ people and leaving most of the besieged territory in ruins.
- Ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions – Supporters of the exemptions say they protect full-time Torah study, but critics argue they place an unfair military burden on everyone else.
- Judicial reform – Netanyahu’s push to curb the Supreme Court’s powers, which sparked mass protests before the war on Gaza, remains a deep fault line. Critics see it as a threat to democracy, while supporters argue that the court has overstepped its authority.
- War and security – The public wants stability but remains wary of concessions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon. Netanyahu promised “total victory”, but Hamas and Hezbollah remain operational.
- Cost of living – High prices and modest wages are being further squeezed by soaring defence spending. Since ۲۰۲۳, Israel’s defence budget has doubled, increasing pressure on public finances.
Israel’s outgoing government
Netanyahu’s coalition held ۶۰ of the Knesset’s ۱۲۰ seats when parliament dissolved in July. It comprised Likud with ۳۲ seats, Shas with ۱۱, Religious Zionism with seven, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit with six, and New Hope with four. Shas left the government in July ۲۰۲۵ but remained in the coalition and New Hope will merge into Likud for this election.
The opposition held ۵۹ seats: Yesh Atid with ۲۴, Blue and White with eight, United Torah Judaism with seven, Yisrael Beiteinu with six, Hadash-Taal and Raam with five each and Labor with four. Noam’s single seat was unaffiliated.
Who are the main contenders?
Netanyahu is seeking re-election while facing a trial on corruption charges, which he denies.
His far-right coalition is up against a bloc comprising of four major Jewish-led opposition parties, whose leaders have signed a declaration promising not to attack each other ahead of the vote and to join forces in forming a government after the polls.
Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot is viewed as the opposition’s most likely candidate for prime minister, with his new Yashar party evenly matched with Likud in the opinion polls.
The opposition alliance includes the Together list, led by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and Yair Golan’s Democrats.
Other key players include far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-Orthodox parties, and the Arab-majority lists Ra’am and the Joint List.
Last month, Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted to bar Ra’am and the Joint List from the election, but the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the bans on October ۲, ruling that the evidence did not meet the legal threshold for exclusion.
Sami Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who leads Balad, one of the parties in the Joint List, withdrew from the race after the court signalled that a majority of its judges would uphold his disqualification.
The Arab-led parties could hold the balance of power after the vote, but most leaders of the Jewish-led opposition bloc have ruled out joining forces with them.
Sixth election in seven years
October ۲۷ will be Israel’s sixth national vote since ۲۰۱۹, but the first in ۳۸ years to arrive at the natural end of a full Knesset term.
The instability began in April ۲۰۱۹, when Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party tied on ۳۵ seats each. A second vote that September produced another deadlock, with Blue and White on ۳۳ and Likud on ۳۲, and neither round yielded a coalition able to reach a majority.
A third election in March ۲۰۲۰ gave Likud ۳۶ seats to Blue and White’s ۳۳, and produced a Netanyahu-Gantz unity government that collapsed within a year. In March ۲۰۲۱, Likud won ۳۰ seats to Yesh Atid’s ۱۷, but an eight-party coalition led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid that also included Ra’am, an Arab party, ended Netanyahu’s ۱۲-year run. It lasted a year.
Netanyahu returned in November ۲۰۲۲, with Likud on ۳۲ and Yesh Atid on ۲۴, at the head of what has been described as Israel’s most right-wing government. Polls now show neither bloc clearly reaching ۶۱.
Israel’s prime ministers
The state of Israel has had ۱۴ prime ministers since its foundation in ۱۹۴۸. Netanyahu is by far the longest-serving, with ۱۹ years in three separate stints: ۱۹۹۶ to ۱۹۹۹, ۲۰۰۹ to ۲۰۲۱ and from ۲۰۲۲ to now
Only David Ben-Gurion, who led the country from ۱۹۴۸ to ۱۹۵۴ and again from ۱۹۵۵ to ۱۹۶۳, comes close.
Whatever happens on October ۲۷, Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in.
