Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies and rivals are competing to shape Israel’s next government in the 27 October election. The vote is seen as a referendum on his wartime leadership, with smaller parties potentially holding the balance of power.
Israel will go to the polls on 27 October in an election seen as a verdict on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the 7 October 2023 attack and the three years of wars that followed. The attack was the deadliest Israel has experienced since its founding.
Voters choose parties rather than individual candidates. Those parties then negotiate alliances to form a governing coalition. Throughout Israel’s 78-year history, no single party has secured an outright majority in the 120-seat parliament, known as the Knesset.
A majority requires at least 61 seats, giving smaller parties considerable influence in coalition negotiations. Parties must receive at least 3.25 per cent of the vote to enter parliament.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has spent more than 18 years in office across three separate periods. The country places no limit on the number of terms a prime minister can serve. His opponents are calling on voters to deny him another term, arguing that his failures led to the 7 October attack and accusing him of avoiding responsibility.
Here is a guide to the main parties contesting the election.
Likud (Unification) is Israel’s main right-wing party. It appeals to working-class voters and Jews with traditional religious outlooks, combining nationalism with liberal economic policies.
The party won almost a quarter of the vote in the 2022 election. Netanyahu subsequently formed a coalition with far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, creating one of the country’s most right-wing governments in decades.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), contested the previous election in an alliance with the Religious Zionist Party and the far-right Noam faction. Together, they won 14 seats.
Its leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, became national security minister, with responsibility for overseeing the police. An ultranationalist politician, Ben-Gvir has been arrested multiple times for incitement and supporting terrorism.
Shas (acronym for Sephardic Guardians), is an ultra-Orthodox party supported largely by Jews with roots in North Africa and the Middle East. These communities have long experienced discrimination in Israeli society.
The party supports normalisation with Arab countries and won 11 seats in 2022. In 2023, the Supreme Court barred its leader, Aryeh Deri, who had been convicted of tax offences, from holding a Cabinet post.
United Torah Judaism brings together two ultra-Orthodox parties whose priorities centre on social services for their community.
Like Shas, its members are frustrated with Netanyahu over his failure to pass legislation guaranteeing military service exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox.
The far-right Religious Zionist Party advocates a hard-line security policy, settlement expansion and stronger Israeli control over the occupied West Bank.
Its leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has overseen substantial government spending on settlement projects. The party has allied with Zehut, meaning “Identity”, which sits further to the right, but is struggling to cross the electoral threshold.
Amcha Yisrael, meaning (Your Nation of Israel), was founded in August by retired general Ofer Winter and initially emerged as a surprise contender on the political right.
The party aims to attract Netanyahu supporters dissatisfied with his handling of the wars. However, its early surge in support has faded, and it is now struggling to secure enough votes to enter the Knesset.
Yashar! (Straight) is a new centrist party that has attracted considerable support. It is led by Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival and a former military chief whose son was killed fighting in Gaza.
The party advocates equal military service obligations and focuses on domestic issues, including living costs, education and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the 7 October attack.
Beyachad, meaning (Together), unites the parties of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
Bennett leads the alliance and presents himself as part of a “new right” seeking to restore trust in Israel’s institutions. He is religiously observant while holding socially liberal views.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid, or “There is a Future”, won 24 seats in 2022, making it the largest opposition party.
Established in 2024 to revitalise Israel’s struggling left, The Democrats brings together the centre-left Labor party and the far-left Meretz party.
Labor governed Israel during the first two decades of its existence. The Democrats’ leader, Yair Golan, supports including Arab-led parties in a governing coalition.
Yisrael Beyteinu, (Israel Our Home) was founded primarily to appeal to immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
The party takes right-wing positions on foreign policy, security and the economy, alongside more left-wing views on social issues.
Although it has previously contested elections alongside Likud, its leader, Avigdor Liberman, has ruled out joining another coalition with Netanyahu, saying he would refuse “even if the world turns upside down”.
The new centre-right Reservists-Economic Party is campaigning to end military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men and ease the cost of living. Its support is hovering around the minimum required to enter the Knesset.
Leader Yoaz Hendel describes the party as “the third bloc”. He advocates a unity government bringing together Netanyahu and Eisenkot, without ultra-Orthodox or Arab parties.
Palestinian citizens of Israel account for about 20 per cent of the population, but discrimination and political disillusionment have contributed to low voter turnout.
Netanyahu and his main opponents have said they will not form a coalition with Arab partners, concerned that such an alliance could alienate right-wing voters.
A close election result could nevertheless encourage compromise, giving Arab-led parties a potentially decisive role in determining who becomes the next prime minister.
Ra’am acronym for (United Arab List) is an Islamist conservative party led by Mansour Abbas. It is regarded as relatively moderate among Israel’s Arab-led parties.
The party supports the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, while also prioritising local concerns such as crime and the economy.
Ra’am won five seats in 2021 and became the first Arab-led party to join a governing coalition.
Abbas has declined to join the separate Joint List of Arab parties. He has also appointed Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish politician and former police commissioner, as his deputy.
The Joint List brings together three major Arab parties: Ta’al, (acronym for Arab Movement for Renewal); Hadash, (New); and Balad (acronym for National Democratic Alliance).
Hadash is a Jewish-Arab party dating back to 1977. The Hadash-Ta’al alliance won five seats in the previous election.
The Joint List opposes the war in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. It also rejects laws defining the country’s national character as Jewish, a position that reduces its prospects of joining a governing coalition.
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