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Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · 184 days away
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Israeli Knesset Election (26th)
Event overview
First post-Oct 7 election; constitutional deadline Oct 27 2026 unless coalition collapses earlier. Netanyahu re-election bid.
The 26th Knesset election in Israel, statutorily required no later than 27 October 2026 under Basic Law: The Knesset, with the actual polling date set by the speaker on the recommendation of the cabinet. Voters elect all 120 members of the Knesset using a single national constituency under closed-list proportional representation with a 3.25 percent electoral threshold.
Israel has not completed a full four-year Knesset term since 2015. The 25th Knesset elected on 1 November 2022 returned a 64-seat coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud with Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Noam, Shas, and United Torah Judaism — the most ideologically right-wing government in Israel's history. The coalition's first eighteen months were dominated by the judicial-overhaul protests of 2023, which paused with the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza, the September 2024 mobilisation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the 2025 ceasefire talks.
The 2026 ballot is the first national election since the war and is widely expected to be a referendum on Netanyahu's wartime leadership, the conduct of the Gaza campaign, the fate of the remaining hostages, the Trump administration's regional plan, and the long-deferred state inquiry into 7 October. Polling through 2025 has shown Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid, Benny Gantz's National Unity, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, and Naftali Bennett's anticipated new party clustering as plausible Likud-replacement candidates, while smaller religious and Arab parties hold the kingmaker positions. The threshold of 3.25 percent excludes any list that fails to clear roughly four seats' worth of votes — a recurring pivot point that has eliminated parties from past Knessets.
All 120 Knesset seats are filled from a single national list, using the Bader-Ofer method (variant of d'Hondt) with the 3.25 percent threshold. Voters cast a single ballot with the two-letter Hebrew code of their chosen party. Coalition negotiations begin under the President's mandate within 28 days of the result, with a 28-day primary mandate followed by a 14-day extension and an optional 21-day Knesset-led nomination. Ballot issues include the Gaza day-after plan, hostage policy, the proposed Haredi conscription law and Tal Law successor, judicial reform, and the relationship with Saudi Arabia, the United States, Egypt, and Jordan.
The Central Elections Committee (CEC) publishes preliminary results from sample stations beginning 22:00 Israel Standard Time as polling closes, with full station-level data on bechirot.gov.il through the night. Israel's three commercial channels — Channel 12 (Keshet), Channel 13 (Reshet), and Kan 11 — anchor the Hebrew-language broadcast. International viewers follow Times of Israel, Haaretz English, Jerusalem Post, BBC and Reuters live blogs. The President receives the certified result from the CEC and begins the consultation process within seven days.
Track Israeli politics alongside the US 2028 presidential election and the French presidential election second round — the three contests will reshape Western posture on the post-war Middle East. Religious-calendar tentpoles to track in parallel: Rosh Hashanah 2026 and Hanukkah 2026.
When is the 2026 Knesset election? No later than 27 October 2026; the exact date will be set by the Knesset speaker on cabinet recommendation, and earlier dates are possible if the government falls. Where is the election held? At polling stations across Israel and at Israeli diplomatic missions for serving personnel; there is no general overseas voting. Why does the Knesset 2026 election matter? It is the first national vote since the 7 October 2023 attacks and the Gaza war and will reshape the post-war coalition, hostage and judicial-reform debates. How many seats are needed for a coalition? 61 of 120; coalitions historically range from 61 to 70 members.
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