Israel's Vote: Netanyahu Faces Eisenkot in Narrow Race
Polling indicates a tight contest for the premiership, with 68% of Jewish voters citing the 2023 Hamas attacks as the primary factor in their decision.
By Fatou Mitchell ·
Benjamin Netanyahu, the world's longest-serving prime minister, faces a narrow election against Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, in a contest widely viewed as a referendum on his leadership. The vote determines which parties will form a governing coalition to name the next head of government, as no single party has ever secured a majority in the Knesset.
The campaign has been defined by the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the abduction of 251 others. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, 68% of Jewish Israelis state that their views on that day are a central factor in their voting choice. This figure dwarfs the roughly 25% of Jewish voters who ranked mandatory military service as a key consideration in the same survey.
Netanyahu, 77, leads the nationalistic Likud party, while Eisenkot, 66, heads the centrist Yashar party. Eisenkot, who lost his son and two nephews in the Gaza conflict, has promised to end the de facto exemptions that allow ultra-Orthodox men to avoid conscription. Netanyahu's coalition has relied on these ultra-Orthodox parties for years, a dynamic that has drawn criticism from the broader public during the ongoing war footing.
Other major candidates include Naftali Bennett, 54, a former prime minister running on a joint ticket with Yair Lapid. Itamar Ben-Gvir, 50, the national security minister, represents the far-right ultranationalist bloc. Yair Golan, 64, a former general leading the center-left Democrats, advocates for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a goal supported by a minority of voters. Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra'am party, focuses his campaign on crime in Arab communities rather than the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
International dynamics have influenced the domestic race, with President Donald Trump endorsing Netanyahu last week. The unresolved war with Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched together on February 28, continues to shape regional talks. Israel's global standing has faced scrutiny, with an international arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu and accusations of genocide from rights groups and U.N. officials, claims the country denies. The next government will inherit these diplomatic challenges alongside the task of forming a stable coalition from over three dozen competing parties.
