Israel election 2026, Netanyahu faces Eisenkot in a close vote

Israel voted on Tuesday, 27 October, in a parliamentary election that will decide whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power after three years of war. Final polls showed his bloc slightly behind the opposition led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, Al Jazeera and CNN reported.

It is the country's first national election since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, and it comes as the US and Israel weigh renewed strikes on Iran.

Key points

• Polls were open from 7 am to 10 pm local time (10:30 am to 1:30 am IST); about 7.3 million people were eligible to vote.
• Final polls projected about 50 seats for Netanyahu's bloc and 54 for Eisenkot's opposition, in a Haaretz average of three TV channels.
• A government needs 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats.
• Exit polls come after voting ends; the final tally is expected by Friday and official results on 4 November.
• CNN reported record turnout during the day.

How the election works

Israelis vote for a party list, not for individual candidates. Seats in the 120-member Knesset are shared out in proportion to each party's national vote, and a party needs at least 3.25% of the vote to win any seats, Al Jazeera reported. About a dozen parties have a chance of crossing that threshold.

No party has ever won an outright majority in Israel, so every government is a coalition. After the results, President Isaac Herzog consults party leaders and asks the candidate most likely to form a government to try. That person has up to 42 days. If no coalition is formed, Netanyahu's current government stays on as a caretaker, and if talks fail completely, another election follows.

What the final polls showed

Source: Haaretz average of Channels 11, 12 and 13, as reported by Al Jazeera. Polls in Israel have often been off by a few seats, and small parties falling just below or above the 3.25% threshold can change the result.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads a party called Together (Beyachad), is also in the race and could be important in any coalition talks, according to Al Jazeera.

The candidates

Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister. He returned to power at the end of 2022 with a coalition of right-wing and religious parties. He has campaigned on his record in the wars with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, while facing questions over security failures before 7 October 2023, the handling of the hostages taken to Gaza, his long-running corruption trial and a bitter dispute over military service for ultra-Orthodox men.

Gadi Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who joined politics in 2022 and later served in the wartime cabinet. He has built an opposition bloc that pitches itself as a more responsible, security-focused alternative to Netanyahu.

The issues for voters

• Security and the wars: how Israel has fought in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, and who can best keep the country safe.
• Accountability for 7 October: many Israelis want an inquiry into the failures that allowed the Hamas attack, and blame the government for resisting one.
• The hostages: the handling of the people taken captive to Gaza has been one of the most emotional issues in Israeli politics.
• Military service: the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from the draft has angered many Israelis whose families have served long tours of duty in the war.
• The cost of living: high housing and food prices, and the economic cost of the war.
• Democracy and the courts: the government's 2023 plan to curb the Supreme Court's powers set off months of mass protests before the war, and the issue still divides voters.

The role of smaller parties

Because no party wins a majority, smaller parties often decide who governs. Religious and far-right parties have been key partners in Netanyahu's coalitions. Centrist and right-wing parties opposed to Netanyahu, Arab-led parties and the left together make up much of the opposition. Whether Arab-led parties back an Eisenkot-led government, as the Ra'am party did by joining the Bennett-Lapid coalition in 2021, could be decisive if the opposition falls short of 61 on its own.

The backdrop: war and Iran

The vote comes at a tense time. Israel has been at war in Gaza since October 2023, violence has risen in the occupied West Bank, and tensions remain high on several fronts. Israel and the US launched a war on Iran in February 2026, and US media now report that the two countries have drawn up plans for new strikes after the US midterm elections on 3 November. We reported on those plans in US military has Iran strike plans ready after midterms, reports say.

The army cancelled soldiers' leave around election day for security reasons, and officials had warned that a major confrontation could even force the vote to be delayed. In the end, it went ahead as planned.

When will we know who won?

• Exit polls: broadcast by Israel's TV channels as soon as voting ends at 10 pm local time, which is about 1:30 am on Wednesday in India.
• Counting: the Central Elections Committee publishes results as they are counted; a clear picture usually emerges overnight.
• Final tally: expected by Friday, 30 October.
• Official results: published on 4 November.
• New government: coalition talks can take weeks.

What a change of government could mean

If Netanyahu loses power, it would end the longest run of any Israeli prime minister and bring in a government led by a former army chief who served alongside him in the wartime cabinet. Analysts expect little change in Israel's tough line on Iran and Hezbollah under either leader, but differences on how the Gaza war ends, on an inquiry into 7 October, on the courts and on relations with Washington. If Netanyahu stays, he would govern with largely the same partners, but with the war, the Iran question and his corruption trial still hanging over his government.

Why it matters for India

• Strategic ties: India and Israel have close defence, technology, agriculture and water cooperation, which has continued under governments of different parties in both countries.
• Indian workers: Thousands of Indian workers have gone to Israel in recent years to fill jobs in construction and caregiving.
• West Asia stability: The next Israeli government's approach to Gaza and Iran will affect oil prices, shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf, and the safety of millions of Indians in the region.
• Trade corridors: Projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) depend on stability in the region.

We will update this story with the exit polls and the count as they come in overnight.

After three years of war, Israelis have had their say. The counting, and then the coalition bargaining, will decide what it means.