Israel votes on Tuesday in its first legislative election since October 2023

26 October 2026

Israel votes on Tuesday in legislative elections for the Knesset, the first since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023. The Knesset has 120 seats and a governing majority requires 61. The electoral threshold is 3.25 per cent, and the parliament's term lasts four years. Benjamin Netanyahu leads Likud and is described as Israel's longest-serving prime minister, with more than 15 of the last 17 years in office and 19 years in total. The pro-Netanyahu bloc includes Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism-Zehut. The opposition bloc includes Yashar, the Democrats, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Together alliance. The Arab-led parties are Ra'am, the United Arab List, and the Joint List of Hadash, Balad and Ta'al. About 7.3 million Israeli citizens are eligible to vote, including about 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel. A ban on publishing new surveys took effect on Friday.