Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday in a tense national election widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and the wars that have since transformed the Middle East.
Voters choose parties rather than a directly elected prime minister. Those parties must then build alliances capable of forming a governing coalition. No single party has ever secured the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset.
Opinion polls pointed to a closely fought contest without a clear victor, raising the prospect of weeks or even months of coalition negotiations involving roughly a dozen parties expected to win seats in the Knesset.
The election unfolded amid heightened emotions. “This is critical. And it’s never been as critical,” said Noga Mizrahi, a voter in Jerusalem.
Mizrahi said she had traveled from Kibbutz Nirim, which came under attack on October 7.
In Kiryat Shmona, a stronghold of Netanyahu near Israel’s border with Lebanon, a man kicked and ripped down a campaign poster featuring the prime minister’s leading challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, relatives of people killed in the Hamas-led 2023 attack joined families of former hostages for a moment of silence.
“Remember all those whose voices are no more,” said Yona Adam, whose daughter, Mapal Adam, was killed.
An aerial view shows a campaign billboard featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party alongside US President Donald Trump
Voters prepare to cast their ballots at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm, Israel
Israeli settlers queue to vote at a school being used as a polling station during the country’s general election in Kiryat Arba
At a polling station in a Jerusalem school, some voters said they were casting ballots for change, while others said Netanyahu was the only leader they trusted to protect Israel’s security.
“He’s not responsible for October 7,” said Nisim Cohen, a reservist.
Cohen said he wanted Netanyahu to win and continue the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and against Iran until Israelis could feel safe enough to sleep peacefully.
As polling stations opened in Ofakim, one of the southern Israeli communities attacked by Hamas-led militants on October 7, Eisenkot was meeting voters. Netanyahu’s main rival lost his son and two nephews in combat in Gaza.
The visit appeared designed to highlight the security failures that preceded the deadliest militant assault in Israel’s history, as well as Netanyahu’s opposition to establishing a state commission of inquiry into those failures.
Thousands of volunteer election observers were deployed at polling stations across Israel to monitor the voting process.
Eyal Sher said he was volunteering with the civil society organization Elections Guards because he wanted to contribute to an election he regarded as especially consequential.
“We have a corrupt government that will do anything to stay in power,” he said. “Every vote counts, and we want to make sure the procedures are kept intact.”
Israel’s Central Election Committee said more than 7.3 million citizens were eligible to vote, including approximately 330,000 young Israelis who spent their high school years under the shadow of war.
The polling stations – around 12,000 of them – will close in most places at 10 pm. Ballots are manually counted at each polling station immediately after voting ends.
Netanyahu has been Israel’s most dominant politician for nearly two decades, and a poor showing could end the 77-year-old’s lengthy career on a bitter note and open the door to a new era in Israeli politics.
A victory would cement his image as the ultimate political survivor. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump backed Netanyahu’s reelection, but the late endorsement still marked a setback for the Likud politician who had billed his tight ties to the Republican president as a selling point for staying in power.
An Israeli man, accompanied by children, casts a ballot at a polling station during Israel’s national election
People wait before casting their ballot to vote at a polling station in the Arab-Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm
Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, walks with former hostage Gadi Moses
Netanyahu has been a master at forming coalitions with religious and nationalist partners.
But opinion polls now suggest a tight race between his bloc and the one led by Eisenkot, which says Netanyahu should be held accountable for October 7 and the failure to turn battlefield victories into diplomatic achievements.
The deadliest day in Israel’s history has featured prominently in the campaign, but there has been almost no debate over Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza, which led to an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
Israel’s occupation of much of southern Lebanon and parts of Syria, as well as its two wars launched against Iran, also has broad support among Israelis.
The candidates have instead focused on Netanyahu’s role in the security breakdown on October 7 as well as his efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service and a 2023 judicial overhaul seen by critics as an assault on Israel’s democratic institutions.