2026 Israeli legislative election
Legislative elections are scheduled to be held in Israel by 27 October 2026 to elect the 120 members of the twenty-sixth Knesset.
Background
After the 36th government lost its majority, snap elections were called in 2022. They resulted in the Netanyahu bloc gaining a majority, and a government was successfully negotiated between Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Noam, Religious Zionist Party, United Torah Judaism, and Shas. The coalition was sworn in on 29 December 2022.With this new government, Netanyahu returned to the premiership, having previously been out of office since the anti-Netanyahu bloc won a majority in the 2021 election and formed a government without Netanyahu's Likud. Five members of the National Unity party joined an emergency wartime government in October 2023 following the outbreak of the Gaza war. Gantz and Eizenkot also joined the Israeli war cabinet.
Sa'ar announced on 25 March 2024 that New Hope had resigned from the government. Gantz and the rest of his National Unity party left the government on 9 June. New Hope rejoined the government in September 2024. Otzma Yehudit announced on 19 January 2025 that it would leave the government because of a Gaza ceasefire agreement. The resignations went into effect two days later. Members of Otzma Yehudit rejoined the government in March, after the ceasefire collapsed.
Electoral system
The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the election is 3.25%. Two parties can sign a surplus vote agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as if they were running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer method slightly favours larger lists, meaning that alliances are more likely to receive leftover seats than parties would be individually. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is applied privately, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.Timing
Per sections 8 and 9 of the Israeli quasi-constitutional Basic Law: Knesset, an election will typically be called approximately 4 years after the previous election, on the first or third Tuesday of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, depending on whether or not the previous year was a Jewish Leap Year. An election can happen earlier if the government falls and the Knesset is dissolved, or later if the Knesset's term is extended by a supermajority vote. Per section 36 if the previous Knesset was dissolved earlier than the expiration of its full term then the next election shall be held the next month of Cheshvan after 4 years of a current Knesset's term have been completed. Since the 2022 elections were held in Cheshvan a question was raised as to once 4 years from the last elections are completed whether the "next Cheshvan" will be in 2027 or 2026. The Israeli Supreme Court decided that it is in 2026; the next election was scheduled to be held no later than 27 October 2026.After the October 7 attacks and the ensuing Gaza war, some have called for the resignation of Netanyahu, with polls suggesting that more than 75% of Israelis believe he should step down. There have also been calls for a snap election once the war is over. Minister of Labor Yoav Ben-Tzur said that an election should occur within 90 days of the end of the war, although he later walked those statements back. Polling suggests that 64% of Israelis believe that an election should happen as soon as the war is over. In late 2025, Netanyahu said he expected elections to happen at the end of 2026, i.e. on time.
If the budget is not passed by the late March 2026 deadline, early elections will be called.
Political parties
2022 election results
The table below lists the results of the 2022 Knesset elections.Retiring incumbents
The table below lists all members of the Knesset who will not stand for re-election.Contesting parties
- The Reservists Party
- * On 15 August 2025, former minister and MK Yoaz Hendel founded The Reservists Party. It was announced on 18 September that the party had registered to run in the next election.
Public expression of interest
- Bennett 2026
- *Naftali Bennett registered the party in April 2025, and publicly announced that he would contest the 2026 election the following November.
- Beyachad Natzliach
- * Avi Shaked, a former Labor member and candidate in the 2021 and 2024 Israeli Labor Party leadership elections, announced the formation on 30 June 2025 of a new Jewish-Arab party called "Beyachad Natzliach" with businessman Dirar Amreikh of Tamra, and political strategist Yoram Dori.
- Joint List
- * Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas indicated in March 2025 that he intended to run for the next Knesset election, but would not participate in the following election.
- ** In 2026, Ra'am announced that it would invite Jews to join its list, which was historically only open to Arabs.
- *The four parties that made up the Joint List in 2020 agreed in late January 2026 to run together.
- Likud
- * On 13 March 2025, it was announced that Gideon Sa'ar had agreed to dissolve his New Hope faction and merge into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud. The Likud-New Hope agreement was approved by Likud's central committee in August 2025; the party was expected to vote on an August 2021 resolution barring members of New Hope from serving in Likud.
- Mayim Chaim
- *On 12 May 2025, Rabbi Haim Yosef Abergel announced his intention to create a new ultra-Orthodox party under the name "Mayim Chaim", which seeks to compete with Shas on the national level for votes, after successfully challenging Shas locally. It was reported that the party will endorse Haredi conscription into the military and the introduction of secular studies into the ultra-Orthodox school curriculum. He was arrested in August 2025.
- New Economic Party
- * The New Economic Party announced its intention to run in October 2025.
- OZ Party
- * Started by former MK Einat Wilf based on a platform of universal conscription and Arab Zionism.
- United opposition
- * Avigdor Lieberman, the head of Yisrael Beiteinu, sent a letter to Lapid on 27 August 2025 calling for a meeting with Eisenkot and Bennett to discuss a potential government following a new election. Gantz and The Democrats leader Golan were notably excluded by Lieberman. Lieberman and Bennett met the same day and discussed the Gaza war, hostage deal negotiations, and the "Israeli economy." Eisenkot and Lieberman met on 4 September and discussed "coordination" among Zionist parties on forming a new government, while Bennett met with Eisenkot on 7 September and talked about "creating a new leadership." Eisenkot also met with Lapid that same day. Lieberman remarked on 20 September that he would be unwilling to sit with Likud or Ra'am in a government. A meeting held that same night included Lapid, Eisenkot, Lieberman and Golan. Bennett was unavailable as he was observing Yahrzeit, while Gantz did not attend because of a "scheduling conflict". The attendees agreed to form a professional body in the future which would focus on the creation of a "national constitution", pursuing "universal military conscription" and "preserving the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and Zionist state." Bennett, Lapid, Eisenkot, Gantz, Lieberman and Golan held a meeting in early October, releasing a statement afterwards mentioning that they discussed "coordinating steps to bring down the government" during the Knesset's winter session, which would trigger an early election.
- * Eisenkot's office confirmed a January 2026 report by Channel 12 that he proposed a joint slate between his party, Bennett's and Yesh Atid.
- * Lieberman sent a letter to Lapid, Golan, Eisenkot and Bennett in January, laying out principles for a new government, focusing on conscripting the Ultra-Orthodox into the IDF.
- Yashar! with Eisenkot
- * Gadi Eisenkot announced on 30 June 2025 that he would resign from the Knesset and would not participate in the next election on behalf of Benny Gantz's National Unity, over differences on how to hold a leadership election for the party. Eisenkot could join Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid and may take over the leadership of the party from Lapid, join Naftali Bennett's Bennett 2026 party, or run independently with a new party. A source confirmed that Eisenkot and Lapid were in contact, but denied that there was a potential agreement. He announced the formation of Yashar! with Eisenkot on 16 September 2025.
- * Matan Kahana announced on 1 July that he would resign his seat. He later joined Eisenkot in the founding of Yashar.
Leadership elections and primaries