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2026 Israeli legislative election

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1. What we know so far
2. 19 October 2026: A Walla poll, published by The Jerusalem Post on 20 October 2026, projected 23 seats for Yashar and 19 for Likud, with 48 seats for Netanyahu's bloc and 54 for opposition parties, leaving neither bloc with a 61-seat majority.
3. 19 October 2026: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, according to CBS News sources.
4. 18 October 2026: A Maariv poll projected 18 seats for Likud, 21 for Yashar, 51 for Netanyahu's bloc and 51 for the Zionist opposition.
5. 18 October 2026: A Channel 12 poll, as reported by The Jerusalem Post, projected 23 seats for Yashar, 20 for Likud, 54 for opposition parties, 49 for the coalition and 13 for Arab parties.
6. 18 October 2026: U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu.
7. 18 October 2026: Netanyahu said he was not planning renewed strikes against Iran before the 27 October election because it was not convenient.
8. 2 October 2026: Israel's Supreme Court overturned the Central Elections Committee's disqualification of Ra'am and the Joint List, and Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew after the court indicated that most judges would uphold his disqualification.
9. 26 September 2026: Five Zionist opposition leaders signed a non-aggression pact at Yair Lapid's Tel Aviv home.
10. Election date: 27 October 2026
11. Seats in the Knesset: 120
12. Seats needed for a majority: 61
13. Outgoing coalition seats: 60 (Likud 32, Shas 11, Religious Zionism 7, Otzma Yehudit 6, New Hope 4)
14. Outgoing opposition seats: 59 (plus 1 unaffiliated)
15. Latest poll (Walla, 19 Oct): Yashar 23, Likud 19; Netanyahu bloc 48, opposition 54 (per The Jerusalem Post)
16. Polling hours: 07:00 to 22:00, with voters still queuing at closing entitled to vote
17. Diplomat voting: At Israeli missions on 20 October 2026
18. Background
19. Israel's parliamentary election is scheduled for 27 October 2026 to elect all 120 members of the 26th Knesset, the country's sixth national vote since 2019. When parliament dissolved in July 2026, the outgoing coalition held 60 seats: Likud 32, Shas 11, Religious Zionism seven, Otzma Yehudit six and New Hope four. The opposition held 59, and Noam held one unaffiliated seat. The vote takes place during the 2026 Iran war and the ongoing Gaza war, both of which have featured in the campaign.
20. The parties file their lists i24NEWS, September 2026: the Knesset and the party leaders presenting their candidate lists before the deadline.
21. Electoral system and schedule
22. Israel elects its 120-seat Knesset by proportional representation, and a party must clear an electoral threshold to win seats. Most polling stations are scheduled to open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and voters still queuing at closing time are entitled to vote. Diplomats and state emissaries were scheduled to vote at Israeli missions on 20 October 2026, ahead of the main polling day.
23. Parties and leaders
24. The main challengers to Netanyahu signed a non-aggression pact on 26 September 2026 at Yair Lapid's Tel Aviv home: Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman. They said their shared objective was forming a Zionist government focused on repair and reconstruction. Bennett and Lapid run together on Beyachad, a joint list announced in April 2026 with Bennett at its head and Lapid in second place. Golan leads the Democrats, formed in 2024 through the merger of Labor and Meretz, and Eisenkot founded the centrist Yashar party in 2025. Al Jazeera's 17 October 2026 report framed the contest as a fight over who would succeed Netanyahu, with these five as the principal challengers.
25. Bennett and Lapid's joint list i24NEWS: Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid together at the podium of their joint list, Beyachad.
26. Campaign issues
27. The 2026 Iran war and the Gaza war have been central to the campaign, and the United States has publicly backed Netanyahu's handling of both. On 18 October 2026, Netanyahu said he was not planning renewed strikes against Iran before the 27 October election because it was not convenient.
28. Opinion polls
29. Polls published in October 2026 showed Yashar ahead of Likud, though they disagreed on the margin and on the size of each bloc. A Maariv poll published on 18 October 2026 projected 18 seats for Likud, 21 for Yashar, and 51 each for Netanyahu's bloc and the Zionist opposition. A Channel 12 poll published the same day projected 23 seats for Yashar and 20 for Likud, with 54 for opposition parties, 49 for the coalition and 13 for Arab parties. A Walla poll of 601 respondents, conducted on 19 October 2026 and published the next day, projected 23 seats for Yashar and 19 for Likud, with 48 for Netanyahu's bloc and 54 for opposition parties, leaving neither bloc with a 61-seat majority; its maximum sampling error was 4 percent. The same poll gave the Reservists-Economic Party four seats and put People of Israel at 2.9 percent, below the 3.25 percent threshold. An earlier Maariv poll, conducted on 14 and 15 October, projected 21 seats for Yashar, 13 for B'Yachad, 18 for Likud and 51 seats each for the two principal blocs, with Blue and White at 1.1 percent, below the threshold. Asked who would make the better prime minister, 48 percent chose Gadi Eisenkot and 41 percent Benjamin Netanyahu; Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett were tied at 43 percent, and Netanyahu led Avigdor Lieberman 43 percent to 37 percent.
30. A poll short of 61 seats Al Jazeera, 4 October 2026: a poll gives Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats and the Jewish opposition parties 49, neither reaching the 61 needed for a majority.
31. Disqualifications and disputes
32. Itamar Ben-Gvir challenged the candidacy of Sami Abu Shehadeh before the Central Elections Committee over an article published on 8 October 2023. On 2 October 2026, Israel's Supreme Court overturned the committee's disqualification of Ra'am and the Joint List. Abu Shehadeh withdrew from the election after the Supreme Court indicated that most judges would uphold his disqualification. Al Jazeera's 3 October 2026 report described the pattern of disqualifications as a double standard in which an Arab leader was forced out while far-right parties were cleared, and noted that Palestinian citizens of Israel account for about 20 percent of Israel's population.
33. Abu Shehadeh withdraws Al Jazeera, 2 October 2026: the Central Elections Committee disqualified Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh, who withdrew after the Supreme Court advised him to.
34. International attention
35. U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu on 18 October 2026. The next day, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Netanyahu in Israel, according to CBS News sources, in a visit that CBS News linked to the looming election and the Iran war.
36. After the vote
37. Once polls close, a government needs 61 Knesset seats for a majority, and coalitions can take 28 days to form, with a possible 14-day extension. October polls left neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the Zionist opposition clearly within reach of that threshold: projections ranged from 48 to 53 seats for Netanyahu's bloc and 50 to 54 for opposition parties. In the Maariv poll of 14 and 15 October, most respondents said they would prefer a unity government if the election produced no clear result, while 27 percent preferred another election.
38. Timeline
39. 2024: Yair Golan led the Democrats, a party formed through the merger of Labor and Meretz.
40. 2025: Gadi Eisenkot founded the centrist Yashar party.
41. 2026-04: Beyachad was announced as a joint list led by Naftali Bennett with Yair Lapid in second place.
42. 2026-07: Parliament dissolved with the outgoing coalition holding 60 seats and the opposition 59, with Noam holding one unaffiliated seat.
43. 2026-09-26: Five Zionist opposition leaders signed a non-aggression pact at Yair Lapid's Tel Aviv home.
44. 2026-10-02: Israel's Supreme Court overturned the Central Elections Committee's disqualification of Ra'am and the Joint List, and Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew after the court indicated most judges would uphold his disqualification.
45. 2026-10-15: A Maariv poll found most respondents preferred a unity government if the election produced no clear result, and gave Eisenkot 48 percent to Netanyahu's 41 percent on preferred prime minister.
46. 2026-10-18: The Maariv and Channel 12 polls were published, with Yashar ahead of Likud in both, and Trump endorsed Netanyahu.
47. 2026-10-19: A Walla poll was conducted and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Netanyahu in Israel.
48. 2026-10-20: Diplomats and state emissaries were scheduled to vote at Israeli missions, and the Walla poll was published.

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