🇺🇸 Trending in USA · 28 October 2026
Israel's 2026 election: How the Knesset vote works and who is running
Israel voted on October 27, 2026 to elect its 26th Knesset. Exit polls showed no clear winner: neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor former army chief Gadi Eisenkot's bloc was on track for the 61 seats needed for a majority.
What happened
On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Israelis voted to elect the 26th Knesset, the country's parliament. The Knesset had dissolved on July 17, 2026, which set off the election. Exit polls from Israel's three main TV channels showed Eisenkot's bloc slightly ahead of Netanyahu's Likud-led camp, about 52 seats to 50, with neither side reaching a majority. Counting was still going on, and early figures were described as preliminary.
Quick quiz
1. How many members does Israel's parliament, the Knesset, have?
2. What is the minimum share of the national vote a party list needs to win seats in the Knesset?
3. Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival in the 2026 Israeli election, leads which party?
Sources
- Exit polls indicate no clear winner in Israeli election (NBC News)
- Israeli election results: No clear winner as exit polls suggest rebuke for Netanyahu (CNN)
- FALQs: Israel's Upcoming Election on October 27, 2026 (Library of Congress)
- Israel Election 2026: Guide to Knesset, political parties, coalition governments (Jerusalem Post)
- Israel election: Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party in a nutshell (The JC)
