Israel election 2026: voting under way, exit polls due at 1:30 am IST on Wednesday

Update (28 October): Exit polls released after voting closed point to a hung Knesset. Read the exit-poll report: Israel election exit polls show hung Knesset: Netanyahu bloc at 50 seats, Eisenkot-led camp at 52–53.

Israelis are voting on Tuesday, 27 October, to elect the 120-member 26th Knesset, in the country’s first general election since the Gaza war began in October 2023. No results are available yet. Polling stations are open from 7 am to 10 pm local time, which is 10:30 am to 1:30 am IST, and broadcasters’ exit polls are due at closing time, around 1:30 am IST on Wednesday, 28 October.

Readers searching for results should note the distinction: the first numbers on Wednesday will be exit-poll projections by television channels, not official figures. Votes will then be counted over the following days, and the Central Elections Committee is scheduled to confirm the official result on 4 November.

What the final polls showed

The contest pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and its right-wing and religious allies against an opposition bloc whose most likely candidate for prime minister is Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who leads the Yashar party. Final pre-election surveys compiled by Maariv on 25 October showed neither side reaching the 61 seats needed for a majority.

Averaged across four polls, Yashar was projected to win about 22 seats and Likud about 20, with the Together list of Naftali Bennett on roughly 14 to 15. Yair Golan’s Democrats were around 9 or 10 seats and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu about 8. On the right, Otzma Yehudit, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism were each projected at around 7 to 8 seats.

In bloc terms, the average gave the opposition about 54 seats and Netanyahu’s camp about 49 or 50, with Arab-majority parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, on about 14 to 15 seats between them. Those Arab parties were allowed to run only after the Supreme Court overturned their disqualification on 2 October. Their role, and whether any Zionist-majority bloc would rely on their support, could decide whether a government is possible.

Why the threshold matters

Israel uses nationwide proportional representation, and a list must win at least 3.25% of the vote to enter the Knesset. Several smaller lists, including a reservists’ party, were hovering near that line in the polls. If a party narrowly misses, its votes are wasted, which can shift several seats from one bloc to the other. The Taub Center estimates that at a turnout of about 70%, similar to 2022, a list would need around 165,600 votes to cross the threshold, the Jerusalem Post reported.

About 7.3 million citizens aged 18 and above are eligible to vote, according to the Central Elections Committee figures cited by Al Jazeera. Election day is a public holiday, and police have planned to deploy around 20,000 personnel.

What happens next

After the official count, the President will consult party leaders and task one of them with forming a government. That nominee will have 28 days to assemble a coalition of at least 61 members, with a possible extension of up to 14 days. If no one succeeds, Israel could face another election. Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges that he denies, remains caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in.

The Daily Rostrum will update this report when the exit polls and the first official counts are released.

Sources

• The Jerusalem Post: Polls open across Israel as voting begins in pivotal Knesset election
• The Jerusalem Post: Israel Election 2026: Gadi Eisenkot leads Benjamin Netanyahu but Knesset deadlock looms
• Al Jazeera: Israel’s elections 2026 explained in maps and charts
• Al Jazeera: Israel election 2026 live: Polls open as Netanyahu faces tough test
• Wikipedia: 2026 Israeli legislative election