Israeli elections

Israelis pass by campaign posters featuring Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yashar Party leader, Gadi Eisenkot, near a polling station during Israel's general elections on October 27, 2026 in Hadera, Israel.

Breaking | Last Updated: October 27, 2026, 5:01 pm

Israel exit polls show Netanyahu, Eisenkot short of majority as Arab parties surge

Likud is projected to emerge as the largest party, but neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition appears able to secure a parliamentary majority.

Tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by the Hamas-Israeli war are pitched between the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip, Oct. 20, 2026.

Analysis

What Israel's election could mean for Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank

The ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could provide Palestinians some relief, but is unlikely to improve their prospects for statehood.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

ADORA, WEST BANK - OCTOBER 27: Israeli children ride a bicycle and a scooter past an election campaign stand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party on October 27, 2026 in the Israeli settlement of Adora, West Bank. Voting is underway to choose 120 members of the Knesset, which will determine the make-up of the government that succeeds incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition. Around 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank and are entitled to ca

Live Updates

Israel sees record voter turnout as Netanyahu faces crucial test

For the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, Israelis are heading to the polls in elections widely seen as crucial to the country’s future.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Explainer

Netanyahu victory or another vote? 5 scenarios for Israel’s election

A bus bearing a campaign poster featuring Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu alongside US President Donald Trump drives through Jerusalem on October 26, 2026, on the eve of Israel's legislative elections. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Israel’s elections could bring thaw with Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly gathering, UN Headquarters, New York, Sept. 22, 2026.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Analysis

Corruption trial, ICC warrant: Why Netanyahu will stay in politics even if he loses

A print house worker produces a campaign poster showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

What Netanyahu win or loss could mean for Israel’s economy

a large billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Part of a campaign poster of Benny Gantz, a former Israeli armed forces chief and the head of a new political party, Israel Resilience, is seen in Jerusalem, January 29, 2019 REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC14E2E1BA00

How Iran interferes in Israel’s election campaign

The Israeli press published a report last week claiming that the cell phone of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz was hacked by Iran. Now it seems that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s cell phone was also targeted by Iranian intelligence.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - JANUARY 22: (ISRAEL OUT) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watches his son Yair Netanyahu cast his ballot with by wife Sara Netanyahu at a polling station on election day on January 22, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. Israel's general election voting has begun today as polls show Netanyahu is expected to return to office with a narrow majority. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

How dominant is Netanyahu’s son in his father’s campaign?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair seems to be extremely involved in his father’s election campaign, stirring it in his aggressive and insulting style.

Championing legalizing cannabis, Israeli ultra-right party amasses support

The head of the Zehut party, Moshe Feiglin, is a gifted politician: He advances Libertarian principles and legalization of cannabis while concealing his ambitions for a Jewish State law that would expel Arabs and annex the West Bank and Gaza.

UNSPECIFIED LOCATION -- CIRCA 1977: Israeli Premier Menachem Begin (R) in this circa 1977 photo. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

Late PM Begin stars in election campaigns

The Blue and White party has identified a longing among Israeli voters for a leadership that is modest, honest and inspiring — with the model being what Prime Minister Menachem Begin had to offer.

Israeli parliament member from the Likud party Moshe Feiglin (R) walks near the Western Wall after visiting the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City November 2, 2014. Feiglin, a far-right politician who wants Jews to be allowed to pray at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa compound, visited the site on Sunday, defying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's calls for restraint after clashes this week between Israeli police and Palestinians. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSA

Israeli Third Temple party gains traction

The right-wing, radical Zehut party of former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin is gaining traction and might even enter the Knesset following the April elections.

Netanyahu fears tackling Democrats

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept quiet so far on the matter involving US Rep. llhan Omar, D-Minn.; he knows his policies have been helping reduce Democratic support for Israel for years.

A man shows old ballot papers during a briefing for members of the media ahead of the upcoming Israeli election at the Israel Central Election Committee Logistics Center in Shoham, Israel March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC1BEA8F8EA0

Israel’s Central Election Committee, at the service of the right?

Members of the Central Election Committee knew that their disqualification of certain candidates was a mere formality, which is why they took the liberty of inflicting a blow on democracy and minority rights

Would Israeli unity government advance Trump’s plan?

The Likud Party prefers a broad coalition after the election, and only Blue and White could present that potential.

Is Israel headed for national unity government?

According to current polls, neither Likud nor Blue and White alliance would be able to assemble a governing coalition after elections, raising a number of even more unlikely scenarios for doing so.

Why is two-state solution absent from Blue and White party charter?

The charter of the new Blue and White party veers to the right, thus offering Zionist left-wing Labor and Meretz parties an opportunity to reattract voters who support the two-state solution.

Why Netanyahu is ignoring growing Israeli-Palestinian tensions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would typically convene his Security Cabinet and security chiefs to avoid violence with the Palestinians, but this election season has altered business as usual.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Ramat Gan, Israel March 4, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1F91530CC0

Netanyahu’s war against the ex-generals

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sticks with the same strategy that worked for him in the past: depicting his rival as a "leftist."