Israel election 2026: High turnout, Netanyahu urges supporters to vote

By Nils Adler and Caolán Magee

Published On 27 Oct 202627 Oct 2026

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• Strong turnout as Israelis are heading to the polls to elect 120 members of parliament, or the Knesset, in the first general vote since the October 2023 start of the genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud Party and the far-right coalition it leads are facing off against an opposition bloc that includes the Yashar party, led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot.
• The election comes amid a wider shift to the right with questions over political accountability for security failures, alleged corruption, disputes over ultra-Orthodox military service, and attempts to disqualify Arab-led parties dominating the campaign.
• Millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have no voice in the election, while Palestinian citizens of Israel – about one-fifth of the population – weigh principle against strategic voting in a system they say is stacked against them.

67 Updates

• 11m ago

  (14:45 GMT)

  ‘I think that it’s going to be very tight’

  Here’s what some voters in Tel Aviv said at poling stations in Tel Aviv:

  • Haim Ron: “I am voting for Eisenkot. I think he was a chief of staff, a man of integrity, a true leader who speaks the truth. A person who can unite the people today in the situation left here after the terrible division of the last 20 years.”
  • Nisso Shitrit: “I am voting for Bennett. I think he has a very, very strong list with a combination of two parties that made a nice change during the year they were in power, and I really hope they will bring back the hope that was there.”
  • Terry Newman: “I think that it’s going to be very tight, it’s going to be very close but I really think that the people of Israel have been through … some of the toughest years since the foundation of the state of Israel, and they want to try a different government.”
• 26m ago

  (14:30 GMT)

  

  Analyst warns of possible unrest after election

  

  By Caolán Magee

  Israel’s election “cuts to the core identity and soul of the country”, says Nomi Bar-Yaacov, a Middle East diplomacy expert and fellow at Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

  Speaking to Al Jazeera, she warned that an opposition victory could trigger violence from right-wing supporters who view their opponents as “traitors”.

  “Netanyahu is not going to give up his seat easily,” she added.

  Bar-Yaacov also warned of a further crackdown in the occupied West Bank, if Netanyahu’s government emerged on top. “There is a serious need for change here,” she said, calling for accountability and a path towards coexistence and the two-state solution.

  Whether the opposition could deliver that change remains unclear, she added. Bar-Yaacov also suggested a possible outcome of the election could be a coalition with Arab-led parties.

  

  4:57

  Israel election could hinge on Arab parties and coalition deals, analyst says
• 36m ago

  (14:20 GMT)

  What is happening in the occupied West Bank, Gaza?

  As Israelis head to the polls, Israeli military and settler attacks continue. Here is what has happened in the last few hours:

  • Two Palestinians, including a child, were killed by Israeli military gunfire east of al-Bureij refugee camp, outside of the so-called ‘yellow Line’ in the central Gaza Strip.
  • Israeli forces have fired tear gas canisters toward al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, causing gas to seep into its wards, resulting in suffocation and panic amongst hospital patients, according to Wafa.
  • Several Palestinians and foreign activists were targeted with tear gas during an attack by Israeli settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, as they harvested olives on their mountainous farmland in the town of Beit Ur al-Tahta, west of Ramallah, Wafa reported.
  • Two Palestinians were injured after Israeli settlers attacked olive pickers in the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, while Israeli forces detained one of them, according to Wafa.
  • Israeli military shot a Palestinian man in the foot near the Huwara military checkpoint, south of Nablus, the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported.

  

  An Israeli soldier gestures towards a Palestinian man in Hebron in the occupied West Bank [Mussa Qawasma/Reuters]

• 41m ago

  (14:15 GMT)

  Right-wing leaders stoke fears of high turnout among Palestinian citizens

  Netanyahu has appealed to supporters to head to the polls, warning of a high turnout among Palestinian citizens.

  “Buses are heading to the polling stations, and huge lines are being reported in Arab communities,” Netanyahu wrote on X, including a picture posted earlier by Palestinian lawmaker Ahmad Tibi that featuring himself with a bus in the background.

  The prime minister also reposted a picture of voting in the Bedouin city of Rahat. “We are in a war for our home!”, he commented.

  Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released a video from the city of Kafr Qassem, in which he called on right-wing voters to counter the “crazy voting rate” in Palestinian communities “if you want this country to stay Jewish and Zionist.”
• 46m ago

  (14:10 GMT)

  Opposition figure accuses Netanyahu of ‘spreading lies and illusions’

  Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker from the opposition Democrats party, says election day marks “the beginning of four years of hope”.

  “Today, we are taking the struggle we have waged over the past four years to the ballot box,” Kariv wrote on X.

  He also warned Prime Minister Netanyahu and his allies will attempt to undermine the electoral process by spreading misinformation.

  “In the coming hours, Netanyahu and his associates will flood you with fake news and misleading messages in an attempt to undermine the elections by spreading lies and illusions. Our response must be a massive turnout at the polls.”