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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing competition in the election race. Polls had previously indicated he was heading for defeat, but his rivals have not presented a clear plan for taking power, AnewZ reports.
Voters will cast ballots on Tuesday, October 27. Parliamentary seats will be allocated among parties under a proportional representation system, with candidates elected from party lists.
This is Israel’s first election since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. The attacks led to a wider regional conflict that has included fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
Netanyahu and his main rivals
After his first term as prime minister in the 1990s, Netanyahu became one of the central figures in Israeli politics from 2009. He is a familiar face abroad but a divisive figure at home. His supporters call him “King Bibi” and see him as a strong leader capable of protecting Israel in a hostile region.
Netanyahu faces mounting political and legal pressure. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Gaza; Netanyahu rejects the charges. In Israel, he is on trial on corruption charges, which he also denies.
According to opinion polls, support for his Likud party has fallen sharply since the October 7 attack dealt a blow to his standing on national security. The government’s policies on the role of religion and the state have also angered many voters.
Despite these challenges, Netanyahu has said he wants to form a “broad national” government if he wins the election. If the vote produces a political deadlock, he could remain in office as a caretaker prime minister for months.
Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eizenkot lost his son in the fighting in Gaza. He is presenting himself as an outsider to traditional politics, with extensive military experience and a hard line on security. Eizenkot leads the new centrist Yashar party, whose name means “straight” or “honest” in Hebrew.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, 54, is a former commando and Netanyahu aide who is also known as a technology-sector millionaire. He has joined forces with another former prime minister, centrist Yair Lapid. Their new Together party has made restoring reconciliation and stability in a society battered by war a central campaign theme. Despite their political differences, Bennett and Lapid were part of the alliance that ousted Netanyahu from power in 2021.
Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, 68, was once a close ally of Netanyahu but has become one of his fiercest critics. Known for his hard-line positions on security, Lieberman resigned from the government in 2018, saying Netanyahu was too soft on Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Lieberman wrote on the social network X that he had asked Israel’s attorney general to open a criminal case against Netanyahu on charges of treason. He alleged that Netanyahu had urged security chiefs over the past month to take steps that could lead to a miscalculation over Iran. Lieberman described an attempt to drag the country into war ahead of the election, and a willingness to sacrifice Israeli soldiers out of fear of losing the vote, as a betrayal of the state, its security and its soldiers.
Former general Yair Golan, 64, leads the Democrats. He was praised for rescuing people during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. The Democrats were formed through a merger of remnants of Israel’s historic Labor Party and the smaller left-wing Meretz party.
Coalition partners and potential kingmakers
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, 46, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, 50, have drawn international attention for their far-right policies toward Palestinians. Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of inciting racism against Arabs, has advocated the death penalty for convicted Palestinian militants, harsher prison conditions for Palestinian prisoners and easier access to firearms for Israelis.
Netanyahu has long relied on two ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, to remain in power. Their demand for broad exemptions from compulsory military service has fuelled public resentment, particularly during wartime. Low workforce participation among working-age people in ultra-Orthodox communities and reliance on state benefits have also heightened tensions with other Israelis.
Several parties with no firm allegiance to either political bloc could play a decisive role in determining the next government. They include Raam and the Joint List, which represent Israel’s Arab minority, about 20% of the population. Two new parties, the right-wing People of Israel and the centre-right Reservists, could also affect the election outcome, though their support in polls has fluctuated.
