Polls Open in Israel’s High‑Stakes General Election
politicsOct 27, 20265383
Polls opened across Israel at 7 a.m. local time on Oct. 27 for the country’s first national election since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, with voting scheduled to end at 10 p.m. Many polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition likely to lose its Knesset majority, while former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot is the leading opposition contender. Final surveys indicated no bloc had reached the 61-seat threshold needed to form a government. The campaign has featured a sharp rightward shift among Jewish voters, highlighted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s outspoken rhetoric and a poll for Israel Hayom projecting his Jewish Strength list at nine seats compared with eight for the Democrats, successor to Labor led by former general Yair Golan. More than 500,000 Israelis became eligible to vote since the last election in 2022, and a Channel 12 poll found three quarters of first-time Jewish voters describe themselves as right or centre-right. The outcome will determine which parties can assemble a coalition to govern and results will begin to arrive after polls close tonight.
