A deeply dividedIsrael will head to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, with voters delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's rightward drift. Israelis will cast their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by October 7, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign. The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.
The last polls to be published showed Netanyahu,Israel's longest-serving prime minister, running neck and neck with his main centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot, a political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading.
To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, with more than half a million young people due to cast their ballot for the first time. Surveys show they overwhelmingly identify as centre-right or right-wing.
Tens of thousands of Israelis are estimated to have flown in from abroad to vote in an election seen as crucial to deciding the future character of their country. "I think this is one of the most important election days in the history of the state of Israel," Uriel Brandler, a 58-year-old real estate agent, told in Jerusalem the day before the vote. "The country definitely needs a change for the better in every aspect." Netanyahu, 77, has served as Israel's prime minister on and off for more than 19 years.
The wily political operator focused heavily on his security credentials during his campaign, playing on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and insisting he is the only one who can keep Israelis safe. In the years since October 7, Netanyahu led multiple wars that have seen Israeli forces reduce Gaza to rubble, occupy southern Lebanon and for the first time pummel arch-foe Iran with US help. At home, Israelis have faced bombardment from Iran, Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Read moreIsraeli candidate Eisenkot pledges to unite country as Netanyahu deems him 'soft' on Iran Zipporah Bennett, an 85-year-old retiree, said she was voting for Netanyahu "because he has had the experience of navigating the country through a lot of difficult seasons". "He has the full support of the American government," she said, "and I believe he's a man who's not afraid to take action." Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022, bringing into his coalition far-right ultra-nationalists who have since seen their political clout skyrocket. The opposition has scorned the premier for his backing of ultra-Orthodox parties fighting to keep exemptions for religious Jewish students from drafting into the military, which faces personnel shortages.
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