Israelis are voting on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in a pivotal general election that will decide whether Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, stays in power or is replaced by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and close at 10 p.m., with exit polls expected as soon as voting ends and official results to be finalised in the coming days.
More than 7.33 million registered voters are eligible to elect the 120 members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. It is the first national election since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the wars that followed in Gaza, Lebanon and with Iran — and the campaign has been dominated by accountability for that day, national security and the country’s strained standing abroad.
A close race with no clear winner in sight
Opinion polls point to a close contest between Netanyahu’s Likud party and its right-wing allies and a rival alliance led by Eisenkot’s Yashar party. Reports from Jerusalem note that Yashar has led Likud in most recent polling, yet neither bloc appears able to secure the 61 seats needed for a governing majority on its own.
That arithmetic is what makes the result so uncertain. Under Israel’s system, the party that wins the most seats does not automatically form a government; a candidate must assemble the support of at least 61 lawmakers. If neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot can build a coalition, Netanyahu could remain in office as caretaker until another election is held next year, analysts say.
Netanyahu, who has served a total of 19 years as prime minister across several terms, is campaigning on his wartime record and his alliance with United States President Donald Trump, who has publicly endorsed him. On Sunday, Netanyahu said Trump was prepared to act again to “finally” remove the Iranian threat — but only if Netanyahu remained in power.
Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and a self-described security hawk with backers on the right and in the centre, has rejected that framing. He has accused Netanyahu of relying on what he called a campaign of fear, and said he was confident Trump would work “in full cooperation with any leader chosen by the people.”
The October 7 reckoning
For many voters, the election is a referendum on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostage. Israel’s subsequent offensive flattened much of Gaza; Gaza’s health authorities say Israeli attacks have killed 74,000 people.
Just before polls opened, Eisenkot invoked the attack directly, posting at 6:29 a.m.: “Remember this hour when you go to vote. Today we have an opportunity to put a slip in the ballot box, to replace the government of October 7th.” His campaign has demanded an independent commission of inquiry into the security failures of that day.
Voters quoted in early coverage reflected the divide. Mali Hajaj, an Education Ministry employee and Eisenkot supporter, said the most important thing was “the establishment of a national inquiry because that’s where our healing will come from.” Lisa Tortor said she hoped Netanyahu would go so a new government could repair damage to Israel’s image. But Nof Gabay, an 18-year-old Likud supporter, rejected blame for October 7 and called Netanyahu “the right man for the state of Israel,” adding that he had “managed the war in the best possible way.”
Other challengers are also on the ballot, including Avigdor Liberman and Yair Golan, but the race has largely been framed as Netanyahu versus Eisenkot.
War, Iran and the coalition math
Beyond Gaza, Israel has dealt heavy blows to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and traded strikes with Iran, including a 12-day aerial campaign against Iranian nuclear sites in 2025 and a joint US-Israeli war this year. Eisenkot has said Israel’s next government must prevent Iran from acquiring a military nuclear capability, either by force or through an “arrangement” such as a US-backed diplomatic solution.
At home, Netanyahu may again depend on far-right leaders Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to form a government. Both have faced sanctions from some Western countries over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians, while Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party has gained support in opinion polls. Eisenkot opposes both men and has criticised settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has surged since 2023.
Netanyahu is also fighting a long-running corruption trial, in which he denies the charges — a factor some former Likud supporters cite as they turn away from him. Meanwhile, turnout among Israel’s Arab minority, who are Israeli citizens of Palestinian heritage, could tip the coalition arithmetic: Eisenkot has ruled out partnering with Arab parties, but analysts see a scenario in which they prop up a minority government he leads in order to ensure Netanyahu is removed.
What happens next
Voting at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad concluded on October 16, and voting at some military bases began last week. Once polls close at 10 p.m., exit polls will offer the first projections, but the final seat count — and the weeks of coalition bargaining that usually follow — will take days.
As one analyst put it, the expectation is for only a slight majority either way: “No landslide.” For a country that has spent three years at war and deeply divided over its leadership, Tuesday’s vote is less a conclusion than the start of the next uncertain chapter.