Israel 2026 elections and October 7 political fallout

The Joint List and Ra'am backed Gadi Eisenkot to form a government.

Al Jazeera described the E1 settlement as illegal.

The backing of Eisenkot by Arab-majority parties could potentially give him a Knesset majority.

An April Pew Research Center poll suggested that US public attitudes are as negative towards Israel as they are towards Netanyahu.

The Arab-led parties have said they will support Eisenkot for prime minister.

Israel's defense budget is already 7 percent of GDP.

Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition won 53 seats in total.

Netanyahu's Likud won 27 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, the most of any single party.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of the Central Election Committee, warned that undermining the peaceful transfer of power is a danger to democracy.

Arab-majority party Ra'am backed Gadi Eisenkot in a bid to form Israel's next government.

The Democrats backed Gadi Eisenkot in a bid to form Israel's next government.

Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Arab-majority lists following their record turnout in the previous week's election.

Israel's elections commission found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara rejected a request to question elected officials without supporting evidence.

Once consultations end, the nominee will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.

Sohlberg said that voices trying to cast doubt on the election results and undermine their legitimacy are a real danger.

Herzog was presented with the official results by Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning.

Israeli media reported that the committee had been presented with a claim that Qatar had provided funding aimed at increasing voter turnout in Arab communities.

Herzog condemned what he called the coarseness and racist expressions heard recently.

Sohlberg said that claims about foreign interference were merely suspicions and that even if substantiated, their potential impact would be limited.

Netanyahu's Likud party did not respond to a request for comment.

The Netanyahu-led bloc won 53 parliamentary seats in the October 27 vote.

A 61-member majority is needed to govern in the 120-seat Knesset.

If no one is able to form a governing coalition, Israel would hold another election early next year.

Neither the bloc of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his rival Gadi Eisenkot secured a majority in parliament.

Shin Bet chief David Zini is an appointee of the prime minister.

Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48 seats.

Netanyahu and his allies portrayed the increased vote share for Palestinian-led parties as the result of illegality.

Shin Bet Director David Zini requested to interrogate senior Palestinian lawmakers, including Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas, over foreign interference claims.

The Israeli electoral committee disqualified Palestinian-led parties from the elections in late September, and the Israeli Supreme Court later overturned the decision.

The opposition leaders said in a joint statement that all their parties would recommend Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog.

The opposition leaders stood by four principles set out by Eisenkot, including that all parties in government recognise Israel as a Jewish state and label Hamas a terrorist group.

Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

A separate probe by the Shin Bet into the alleged irregularities remains ongoing.

Ra'am served in the Bennett-Lapid coalition in 2021-22, the first time an independent Arab party had formally joined an Israeli government.

The 19 remaining seats went to two Arab-led lists, the Joint List and Ra'am.

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of launching an "orchestrated and organised campaign to delegitimise the results".

Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

Israeli police released two of three political activists arrested before the election who were allegedly carrying cash to bribe voters.

Ofer Cassif argues that the 'politics of exclusion' keep Israel in political deadlock.

Palestinian-led parties won 15% of the vote in Israel's elections.

The bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu got the most support from Israeli voters but did not win enough seats in the Knesset to build a ruling coalition so far.

Israeli activists rallied in Tel Aviv.

The protesters urged opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form a Jewish-Arab coalition government.

The protesters urged opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to cooperate with Palestinian-Israeli parties.

The Anti-Defamation League said Che's 2021 joke 'not only missed the mark, but crossed the line.'

A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that the joke plays on a widespread but baseless belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck criticized the joke and told Fox News Digital that 'use of the word genocide shouldn't be something to joke about.'

Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday's elections, while Eisenkot's won 48.

Israel's three Arab-led parties won 19 seats in Tuesday's election.

Counter-protesters showed up at Saturday's demonstrations, with Netanyahu supporters shouting demands that Israel should not have a government with so-called terrorists.

Herzog said he hoped representatives would come with an open mind and an open heart to find creative solutions to prevent another round of elections.

Parties aligned with Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in Israel's 120-member Knesset.

The Arab parties won a record 19 seats in the election.

The election was fought on internal issues including the power of Israel's courts, ultra-Orthodox military exemptions, and the government's alleged culpability in missing warnings of the October 2023 attack.

Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the self-styled Zionist opposition alliance secured the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority in the October 27 polls.

Allegations of Qatari interference in Israel's election ignited a debate on Al Jazeera's Inside Story.

Qatar has rejected allegations of its interference in Israel's election, calling them a disinformation campaign.

Netanyahu and Eisenkot are in a struggle to form a governing coalition in the Knesset.

Officials are dismissing the accusations of foreign interference as attempts to undermine the election results.

Mohammad Saleh is an Al Jazeera correspondent.

Chelli Goldenberg is a veteran Israeli actress.

Chelli Goldenberg criticized Israel's policies toward Palestinians on air.

Chelli Goldenberg was a guest on Channel 13.

Mansour Abbas, the head of Ra'am, said his party had no connection to such conduct and urged a full investigation.

The bloc supporting Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats.

President Herzog will consult with party chairs and choose a candidate he thinks has the best chance to form a government.

The Electoral Commission has found no evidence of fraud.

The Palestinian Israeli parties accused by Netanyahu have denied wrongdoing.

Netanyahu accused Palestinian Israeli parties of "stealing" the polls and accepting funding from Qatar.

Eisenkot said foreign involvement in Israel is unacceptable and called on the Shin Bet to investigate the allegations thoroughly.

With 93.8% of ballots counted, Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc was projected to win 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Arab voter participation reached approximately 80% in the 2026 election, compared with 53.2% in 2022.

Dean Livine, acting director for Israel's Central Elections Committee, rejected allegations of foreign interference in the elections.

Partial results indicated Netanyahu's bloc would not secure a majority in the Knesset in Tuesday's parliamentary elections.

Netanyahu's Likud party and media outlets associated with it accused Qatar of sending money to Arab parties in Israel for get-out-the-vote drives.

Netanyahu ruled out working with Arab-led parties.

No clear winner emerged from Israel's election held on October 27.

At least 500,000 double envelope votes from soldiers and diplomats were counted on Thursday.

The Joint List and Ra'am won a combined 19 seats, an all-time high for Arab-led parties.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, asked the Shin Bet security agency to investigate serious suspicions of improper influence through funding from foreign entities.

President Isaac Herzog will begin consulting with competing parties and name the leader he believes has the best chance of forming a majority government.

Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid relied on the support of Palestinian parties during their 2021-22 government.

The pro-Netanyahu bloc has 53 seats while the anti-Netanyahu Jewish opposition bloc has 48 seats.

Netanyahu's Likud party called on the Shin Bet to investigate the possibility of foreign election interference into the large-scale Palestinian turnout.

All votes in the election have been counted.

Palestinian-Israeli parties won a record 19 seats in the election.

Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian-Israeli voters of 'stealing' the election.

With 70% of the vote counted, the Netanyahu bloc had 54 seats, the Eisenkot-led Change bloc had 47 seats, and the Palestinian parties had 19 seats.

Neither Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won enough seats to form a government based on exit polls and partial official results.

Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority in the Knesset.

Eisenkot told supporters that the Israeli public voted against Netanyahu.

Otzma Yehudit is on course for seven seats with 5.58 percent of the vote.

Eisenkot's opposition bloc is expected to secure 48 seats.

United Arab List leader Mansour Abbas said he hoped the Change Bloc and the UAL could ensure 61 Knesset seats.

Eisenkot raised objections to an alliance with Arab parties, including recognising Israel as Jewish and democratic, and Hamas as a terrorist organisation that must be destroyed.

Eisenkot said the public had spoken in favour of change.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza do not have a vote in the Israeli elections.

Marah Ryan is an Al Jazeera correspondent who reported on the Israeli elections.

Over seven million eligible voters are expected at the polls in Israel.

Exit polls projected 50 seats for Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc, 53 for the main opposition parties, and 17 for Arab parties.

A Times of Israel poll published five days before the election found that 87% of respondents had already made their final choice.

The candidate selected to form a government will have 28 days to negotiate a governing coalition, with the possibility of a 14-day extension.

Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv for a Jewish-Arab government after Arab parties made major gains.

President Isaac Herzog will begin consulting party leaders about forming a new administration next week.

The Israeli Central Elections Committee counted more than five million votes as of 9pm local time on Wednesday.

Bezalel Smotrich's far-right party was projected to win seven seats.

More than 60,000 Israelis returned home from abroad to take part in the vote.

Israel's military said turnout among soldiers climbed beyond 68 percent by 5pm local time.

Former PLO official Xavier Abu Eid said a Netanyahu-Eisenkot national unity government could potentially be formed despite their political differences.

Netanyahu posted an AI-generated image of a nuclear bomb hitting Tel Aviv during the campaign.

Netanyahu's governing coalition includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Gadi Eisenkot is a former military chief.

Israel's upcoming election is its first national election since the October 7 attacks.

Gadi Eisenkot declared "Netanyahu must go home" at his final campaign rally.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the incumbent Prime Minister of Israel and leader of the Likud party.

Israel currently spends around 8% of its gross domestic product on military expenditure.

The Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 abducted.

Trump wrote on social media that if Israel has a leader other than Netanyahu, America would have to do the work against Iran itself and he is not inclined to do so.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the Financial Times that new attacks would put civilian lives and the wellbeing of all regional states and the global economy at great risk.

A massive aerial attack on Iran by the US and Israel began in February, destroying many military targets and killing much of Iran's leadership.

Benjamin Netanyahu has served as Israel's Prime Minister for 18 years over three separate periods.

The America-Israel Democracy Coalition was originally created in 2023 to stop the effort by Likud to reform the judicial system.

Israeli organizations and political parties are prohibited from paying for any kind of transportation for people inside or outside of Israel.

A recent survey suggests more than 70% of Jewish Israelis support a state inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Netanyahu has vowed to block full Palestinian statehood.

A pro-Netanyahu speaker used a racist slur referring to Eisenkot as a Moroccan 'monkey' during a TV debate.

Yishai Fleisher is ranked No. 12 on the Otzma Yehudit list and serves as international spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron.

In 2007, Ben-Gvir was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism.

Ben-Gvir was first elected to the Knesset in 2021.

Gadi Eisenkot is the leader of the Yashar party and a former army chief.

Mansour Abbas is the leader of Ra'am.

Ra'am joined Bennett's coalition in 2021, becoming the first Arab-led party to participate in an Israeli governing coalition.

Netanyahu shared an AI video in which Eisenkot is seen running towards an AI figure many believe resembled his son Gal before embracing Mansour Abbas.

Ben-Gvir has called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza via “voluntary emigration”.

Haaretz reported that online bots created to undermine the Iranian government were being repurposed to spread campaign propaganda supporting Netanyahu and his Likud party.

Demonstrators at the rally demanded a change of government.

Demonstrators at the rally demanded an independent inquiry into the security failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7th attacks.

The Israeli election will be held on Tuesday October 27.

Doron Spielman is the international spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

Spielman referenced Operation Rising Lion as the June 2025 military mission against Iran, in which Israel acted for over a week before the U.S. joined.

President Donald Trump endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election bid ahead of the election.

The article states that the global trend may show young people leaning politically to the left, but in Israel they are leaning to the right.

Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim reported on how young Israelis' views on security and Palestinians could impact an election.

Half of the proposed commission's members would be appointed by the government and the remainder by opposition legislators.

Protesters also gathered for antigovernment demonstrations elsewhere in Israel.

Leading Israeli parties and politicians remain united in their opposition to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel is responding with a sweeping military operation and a lockdown across the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians accuse Israel of collective punishment, as entire communities are placed under lockdown, families forced from their homes and buildings are demolished.

Far-right politicians are seizing on the attack to push for annexation and tougher policies against Palestinians.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu suggested using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to help Israel operate under potential international sanctions.

Itamar Ben-Gvir is making inroads in the Haredi community because he is the only non-Haredi party leader who talks to young Haredim.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews are estimated to make up about 14% of Israel's population.

Subsidies to the ultra-Orthodox community are estimated to cost the Israeli government 35bn shekels per year.

An August survey found 42 percent of Israelis said their finances had worsened since the war on Gaza began.

In early October, a group of Haredim clashed with Israeli forces seeking to arrest a draft dodger in Modi'in.

Projections suggest that by 2065, between 20 percent and a third of Israel's population will be Haredi.

Itamar Ben-Gvir has been convicted of supporting terror organisations as well as other criminal offences.

Voters added to the roll since the last elections in 2022 are aged between 18 and 22.

Bezalel Smotrich secured a portfolio in the defence ministry in 2022.

The Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.

More than 74,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The election is the first since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel and its subsequent conflicts.

More than 16% of first-time voters plan to support far-right parties (Jewish Power or Religious Zionism) according to a poll for Yedioth Ahronoth.

Almost three-quarters of young Israeli voters see themselves as right or centre-right according to a survey for Channel 12.

Itamar Ben-Gvir was rejected from Israel's army for being too politically extreme when he reached voting age.

Benjamin Netanyahu has served 19 years in office as prime minister of Israel.

Most Israeli citizens living abroad cannot vote in the election.

A majority in the Knesset requires 61 of the 120 seats.

Trump wrote that anyone other than Netanyahu as Israel's leader would mean America would have to do the work against Iran itself.

Trump had previously refused to endorse anyone in the Israeli election.

No party is projected to secure an outright majority in the Israeli election.