2026 Israeli Elections

The incumbent

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party leads the polls, but his coalition is falling behind.

Ya'acov Sa'ar Ya'acov/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

The challenger

Relative to other candidates, Gadi Eisenkot (Eizenkot) is a newcomer. He first joined...

Naftali Bennett, who briefly replaced Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in 2021–22,...

Yair Lapid

After struggling to catch up in opinion polling in the months before the 2026 Israeli...

Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images

In 2022 Itamar Ben-Gvir led a small party to the Knesset but commanded enough seats...

Abir Sultan—POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Bezalel Smotrich

Having benefited from Naftali Bennett's refusal to participate in the last set of...

2026 Israeli Elections: Media