Elections 2026
On October 27th Israel Votes! So Can You!
Israel Votes is the ultimate educational portal for the historic October 27, 2026 Israeli elections.
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By the time polls open on October 27, it will have been four years since Israelis last went to the polls. While that may sound unremarkable, consider this: the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is the first to complete a full term in more than half a century. The last government to do so was led by Golda Meir, whose tenure ended in 1973 following the traumatic Yom Kippur War.
Fifty years after that joint Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Israel suffered the worst mass terror attack in its history when Hamas invaded Israel on the holiday of Simchat Torah on October 7, 2023, massacring over 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Just as the Yom Kippur War fundamentally altered the 1973 election results, the scars of October 7th and the subsequent seven-front war has already reshaped the Israeli political landscape and the outcome of the upcoming vote will certainly reverberate for years to come.
The Knesset
About the Israeli Parliament & Electoral System
The hallmark of Israel’s democracy – the Knesset – is the unicameral national legislature with 120 seats. Located in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the Knesset is made up of officials elected as members of political lists who run as parties. Each of the nearly 6 million eligible voting citizens of Israel can cast a vote for one of the parties running and no one votes directly for individual candidates. After the election, the seats of the Knesset are divided proportionately according to the number of votes received by each party as long as it garnered the minimum 3.25% of the votes cast, corresponding to 4 Knesset seats. More.
Key Players & Parties
People & Parties You Need to Know
Israelis vote for a political party with a pre-defined list of candidates. Nevertheless, individual candidates play a critical part in elections. Each slate is led by the most dynamic person in the party, the one with the most name recognition, business, political and/or military experience, personal clout – or all of these assets. In short, they are the face of the party. There are two new parties who are have chosen to highlight the top two people in the party. While there are other small parties running, the ones listed below are the only parties expected to pass the threshold of receiving 3.25% of the vote.
Tap the images below to see the party platforms.
# of Women in Knesset (26%)
31
# of Women in US Senate (27%)
27
# of Minorities
in Knesset (10%)
12
16
# of Minorites in Senate (16%)
Data based on: Outgoing Knesset / Current Senate
Key Issues
Background Information & Analysis
Well before the advent of the 24/7 news cycle brought about by the internet, Israel was broadcasting the news every hour, on the hour, day and night since the state's establishment in 1948. The issues impacting Israel are very real and very immediate, so it's no wonder that discussing politics and "the situation" in Israel is a non-stop national sport. Below are backgrounders on some of the key issues that Israelis discuss, even when elections are not imminent.
