Israel will elect a new Knesset on October 27, 2026. The Knesset House Committee officially set the election date on Sunday. This maintains the date stipulated in the Israeli Basic Law, at the end of the regular four-year legislative term.
The election is of historic significance: The current 25th Knesset, elected on November 1, 2022, will be the first Israeli parliament since the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) to complete its full four-year term. In recent decades, legislative terms in Israel have usually ended prematurely because governments collapsed due to coalition crises or political differences, necessitating new elections.
The debate over the election date in recent months was overshadowed by tensions within the governing coalition regarding the conscription of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students. At times, there was even speculation about an early dissolution of the Knesset. Ultimately, however, the election was held on the regular date at the end of the legislative term.
According to Dan Livneh, the acting Director-General of the Central Election Commission, the election process is to be made more transparent than ever before. Among other things, the possibility of broadcasting the vote count live for the first time is being considered, in order to further strengthen public confidence in the election process.
The election campaign has already begun. The parties are preparing their candidate lists, which are expected to be submitted at the beginning of September. At the same time, talks are underway about possible electoral alliances and joint lists.
Current polls show the race remains open. According to a survey published on Sunday by the Hebrew daily Maariv and conducted by the public broadcaster KAN, the new Yashar party, led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, is further extending its lead. The party would win 24 seats, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud party, which would win 20. Netanyahu’s coalition would secure a total of 50 seats, while the opposition parties would win 60. Ten additional seats would go to Arab parties. Since at least 61 of the 120 Knesset seats are required to form a majority government, the current situation suggests another difficult government formation process. However, polls are considered merely a snapshot and offer only limited insight into the final election results.
The elections on October 27 will be the first nationwide parliamentary elections since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent wars against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Accordingly, security issues, the future of the Gaza Strip, relations with the United States, and the conscription policy for ultra-Orthodox Israelis are likely to be the central themes of the election campaign.
With the official setting of the election date, the crucial phase of the election campaign now begins. The coming months will reveal which parties will form alliances and whether any of the political camps can achieve the majority of at least 61 of the 120 Knesset seats required to form a government.
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