Israel Votes in First Election Since October 7 Attack
Voters are choosing 120 Knesset seats as Netanyahu faces a neck-and-neck race with Gadi Eisenkot over security and accountability after Oct. 7.
- On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Israelis began voting in the first national election since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, with 7.3 million eligible voters electing the 120-seat Knesset.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a referendum on his leadership as voters weigh accountability for Oct. 7 security failures and the multi-front wars that have defined his tenure since 2023.
- Recent polls indicate a competitive race between the Likud party and the centrist Yashar, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, with neither bloc projected to secure the 61-seat majority.
- Coalition negotiations could last weeks or months, with analysts predicting potential deadlock that may leave Netanyahu as caretaker prime minister or force another national election early next year.
- Israel grapples with military conscription disputes and ongoing regional conflicts that will shape the next government's approach to national identity and the country's international standing.
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475 Articles
Netanyahu Faces Tough Test as Israelis Rush to Polls
Benjamin Netanyahu isn't just trying to win another term on Tuesday—he's trying to keep his political career alive. Israelis are voting in what many see as a make-or-break election shaped by the trauma of the October 7 attacks, wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, and Israel's growing diplomatic isolation,...
What to watch on Israel's Election Day
Israelis going to the polls today are choosing one of over 30 parties running, placing a white slip of paper into a blue envelope, then emerging from behind a screen to drop the envelope into a blue ballot box in front of the polling station committee. At 10 p.m. —4 p.m. ET — voting will...
In today's election, over half a million young new voters are eligible to vote.
Netanyahu’s Legacy Is On the Ballot in Israel
“Israelis head to the polls today for one of the most consequential elections in the country’s history — with rival camps warning that victory for the other would put Israel’s future in jeopardy,” Axios reports. “The elections are yet another referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership and the path he’s taken the country down over the […]
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