Israeli elections: A knife-edge vote for Netanyahu’s political survival

Israelis voted on 27 October 2026 in the first parliamentary election since the 7 October 2023 attacks, in a contest shaped by the trauma of war and unusually strong turnout. By 2 p.m., 3.29 million voters, or 44.9% of registered electors, had cast ballots—the highest participation recorded by the Central Elections Committee since it began tracking the figures in 1973. The election is framed as a verdict on outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is challenged by centrist Gadi Eisenkot. Netanyahu campaigned on security with the stated support of Donald Trump, while political fragmentation makes a parliamentary majority difficult to secure.