Jerusalem, October 26, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Israel is preparing for a crucial parliamentary election on Tuesday, with incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing challenges from several prominent political leaders, including former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Gadi Eisenkot, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan.
Netanyahu has positioned himself as the candidate best equipped to safeguard Israel’s national security and manage its international relations. His Likud party is highlighting military operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as key elements of its campaign.
However, critics argue that the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, exposed serious security failures under Netanyahu’s leadership, according to Israeli media outlet i24 News.
Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as a prominent challenger. His newly formed Yashar party combines a security-focused agenda with promises to restore public confidence in political institutions and strengthen democracy.
Meanwhile, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid have joined forces to establish the Beyachad party, an alliance seeking support from both right-wing and centrist voters.
Their platform focuses on national security, integrating ultra-Orthodox men into military service and the workforce, supporting military reservists and reforming Israel’s constitutional framework.
Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party is combining a hardline security position with secular policies. Traditionally supported by immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the party is now seeking to appeal to a wider electorate, including voters who favour compulsory military service for all and a reduced role for religious institutions in public affairs.
Yair Golan’s Democratic Party, meanwhile, opposes annexation, advocates a diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and supports cooperation with moderate regional partners, i24 News reported.
With opinion polls indicating a closely contested election, Netanyahu’s opponents are also exploring possible arrangements to form a government after the vote.
According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s anti-Netanyahu bloc is preparing for the possibility of forming a minority government, despite opposition to the proposal from Lieberman and Bennett.
The report also said that a broad understanding was emerging among opposition parties over replacing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana even before a coalition agreement was finalised.
“In most polls, the anti-Netanyahu camp holds an advantage over the outgoing coalition bloc, but the Zionist parties seeking political change fall short of the majority needed to form a government based on their current agreements,” the report noted.
The election comes nearly three years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, which triggered a devastating war involving Israel and multiple regional fronts.
According to The Times of Israel, the vote is widely regarded as one of the most consequential in the country’s history, with implications extending beyond Netanyahu’s political future to questions of national security, accountability and democratic governance.
The election, the first since the October 7 attack, is taking place amid deep divisions over responsibility for the security failures that enabled the assault, the distribution of military service obligations and the independence of Israel’s democratic institutions and judiciary.
The outcome will shape the country’s political direction as voters weigh competing approaches to security, relations with regional partners, military service and the future of Israel’s political institutions.
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