Israel election 2026: Netanyahu faces Eisenkot as final polls point to deadlock
Israelis vote on Tuesday, October 27, in an election seen as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu. Final polls give the opposition 54 seats to his bloc's 48–50, with neither side near the 61 needed to govern.
At a glance
- Israel holds a general election on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm local time; 61 of 120 Knesset seats are needed for a majority.
- The four final polls give the opposition parties an average of 54 seats and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc 49.5, with Arab parties on about 14.5 — a likely deadlock.
- Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party leads at about 22 seats, ahead of Netanyahu's Likud on about 20; Eisenkot leads Netanyahu 49% to 41% as preferred prime minister in one poll.
- Several small parties are hovering around the 3.25% threshold, and whether they get in could decide which bloc comes closer to 61.
Israelis vote on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in a general election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the final opinion polls point to a hung parliament. The opposition parties average about 54 of the Knesset's 120 seats and Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc about 49.5, leaving both camps short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.
The final polls
Israeli law bans the publication of new polls in the last days before the vote, so the last published surveys are the final public snapshot. Averaged across the four latest major polls, the picture is:
| Party (leader) | Bloc | Average seats |
|---|---|---|
| Yashar (Gadi Eisenkot) | Opposition | 22 |
| Likud (Benjamin Netanyahu) | Netanyahu bloc | 19.75 |
| Together / B'Yachad (Naftali Bennett) | Opposition | 14.5 |
| Democrats (Yair Golan) | Opposition | 9.5 |
| Joint List (Arab parties) | Arab parties | 9 |
| Yisrael Beytenu (Avigdor Liberman) | Opposition | 8 |
| Jewish Power (Itamar Ben-Gvir) | Netanyahu bloc | 7.75 |
| Shas | Netanyahu bloc | 7.5 |
| United Torah Judaism | Netanyahu bloc | 7.5 |
| Religious Zionism–Zehut (Bezalel Smotrich) | Netanyahu bloc | 7 |
| Ra'am (Mansour Abbas) | Arab parties | 5.5 |
One of the final polls put Netanyahu's bloc at 48 seats, down three from the week before, against 54 for the Jewish opposition parties and 14 for the Arab parties. In the same poll Eisenkot led Netanyahu 49% to 41% as preferred prime minister, while Bennett led him by a narrower 45% to 43%.
The threshold battle
A party needs 3.25% of the vote to enter the Knesset, and several small lists are close to that line. The joint Reservists and Economic Party list averages about 3.1% and crossed the threshold in only two of the four final polls. Ofer Winter's People of Israel party, which would sit with Netanyahu's camp, failed to pass in all four. Votes for parties that miss the threshold are wasted, so a small shift in turnout could move several seats between the blocs.
Background
Netanyahu, 77, is Israel's longest-serving prime minister and has led the government almost continuously since 2009. This is the first general election since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and with Iran that followed, and the campaign has been dominated by security, the cost of living, ultra-Orthodox military service and Netanyahu's own corruption trial. Eisenkot, a former army chief of staff, left the war cabinet in 2024 and formed his own party; Bennett, who briefly replaced Netanyahu as prime minister in 2021–22, is attempting a comeback.
The vote also comes amid high regional tension: Israel has been holding exercises aimed at deterring any Iranian attack before polling day, and US President Donald Trump has endorsed Netanyahu. Thousands of people rallied against the prime minister in Tel Aviv over the weekend.
Why it matters
The result will shape Israel's policy on Gaza and the West Bank, on Iran and on relations with Gulf states and Washington. For Pakistan and the wider Muslim world, the key questions are whether a new government would change course on Gaza's fragile ceasefire and on the West Bank, where military operations have displaced thousands of Palestinians in Hebron in recent days. Markets are also watching: a long political deadlock in Israel would add to uncertainty in a region already rattled by the Strait of Hormuz crisis and high oil prices.
What happens next
| Step | When |
|---|---|
| Polls open | Tuesday, Oct 27, 7:00 (10:00 PKT) |
| Polls close, exit polls | Tuesday, 22:00 (Wednesday 01:00 PKT) |
| Near-final count | Wednesday–Thursday, Oct 28–29 |
| Official results | About eight days after the vote |
| President's consultations with parties | After official results |
Once results are certified, President Isaac Herzog consults every party and gives the task of forming a government to the member he judges most likely to win 61 votes. That person has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension. If no one succeeds, Israel could be heading to yet another election — something it has done five times between 2019 and 2022.
Questions people are asking
When is the Israel election 2026?
Israel's general election is on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Most polling stations are open from 7:00 to 22:00 local time (10am to 1am Pakistan time), and exit polls are released when voting ends.
Who is leading the polls in the Israeli election?
Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party leads with an average of about 22 seats against roughly 20 for Netanyahu's Likud. As blocs, the opposition averages about 54 seats and Netanyahu's camp about 49.5, so neither has the 61 needed to govern.
How many seats are needed to form a government in Israel?
A government needs the support of at least 61 of the Knesset's 120 members. No single party has ever won a majority alone, so every Israeli government is a coalition.
