2026 Israeli legislative election

Expatriate voting and eligibility dispute

Because Israeli law does not permit absentee voting at embassies for ordinary citizens, participation requires physical travel.^[47] Ahead of the vote, more than 33,000 expatriates registered with the nonpartisan Fly&Vote initiative,^[47] drawing threats of legal action from Prime Minister Netanyahu over concerns they would lean opposition.^[48] Separately, a High Court petition by some 100 expats, removed from voter registries under the Interior Ministry's "Code 51" non-resident designation,^[49] was unanimously dismissed on procedural grounds on 2 September 2026.^[50][51]

Surplus-vote agreements

Two parties can sign a surplus-vote agreement that allows them to compete for leftover seats as if they were running together on the same list. The Bader–Ofer (D'Hondt) method slightly favours larger lists, meaning that alliances are more likely to receive leftover seats than parties would be individually. If the alliance receives leftover seats, the Bader–Ofer calculation is applied again, to determine how the seats are divided among the two allied lists.^[52] The following parties signed surplus vote-sharing agreements for the 2026 election:

• Together and Yisrael Beiteinu^[53]
• Yashar and The Democrats^[53]
• Joint List and Ra'am^[54]
• Likud and RZP–Zehut^[55]
• Shas and United Torah Judaism^[56]
• Brit Olam and Fixing the Electoral and Governing System^[57]

Factions before the election

The following table displays the composition of the 25th Knesset at its dissolution on 17 July 2026:

Faction			Party		Ideology	Leader	Members	Status
		Likud			Conservatism (Israeli) Zionism Right-wing populism	Benjamin Netanyahu	32	Governing coalition
		Yesh Atid			Liberalism (Israeli) Liberal Zionism Secularism	Yair Lapid	24	Opposition
		Shas			Haredi Sephardic/Mizrahi interests Religious conservatism Social conservatism	Aryeh Deri	11	Governing coalition
		National Unity[a]		Blue and White	Liberalism (Israeli) Liberal Zionism	Benny Gantz	8	Opposition
		Otzma Yehudit			Kahanism Ultranationalism	Itamar Ben-Gvir	7	Governing coalition
		United Torah Judaism		Degel HaTorah	Haredi-Ashkenazi interests Religious conservatism Social conservatism	Moshe Gafni	7	Opposition
				Agudat Yisrael
		Religious Zionist Party			Religious Zionism Ultraconservatism Ultranationalism	Bezalel Smotrich	6	Governing coalition
		Yisrael Beiteinu			Zionism Secularism Russian Jewish interests	Avigdor Lieberman	6	Opposition
		Ra'am			Islamism Social conservatism	Mansour Abbas	5	Opposition
		Hadash–Ta'al		Hadash	Israeli Arab interests Secularism Socialism	Ayman Odeh	5	Opposition
				Ta'al
		Labor		The Democrats[b]	Social democracy Liberal Zionism[c]	Yair Golan (of party) Efrat Rayten (of faction)	4	Opposition
		New Hope[d]			National liberalism Economic liberalism Zionism	Gideon Sa'ar	4	Governing coalition
		Noam			Religious Zionism Religious conservatism Fundamentalism	Avi Maoz	1	Unaffiliated

Retiring incumbents

The table below lists all members of the Knesset (MKs) who did not stand for re-election.

Contesting parties

38 parties submitted lists,^[94] with their electoral symbols also listed below.^[95]

Submitted parties that withdrew

The following parties withdrew from the election after the list submission date.

• Blue and White stated its intention to withdraw from the ballot on 19 October 2026.^[67]

• The Ahi party, headed by Haim Yosef Abergel, withdrew on 23 October, following a meeting between Abergel and former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, as well as Almog Cohen, Minister Yoav Kisch and Lior Katzav, who arrived as Benjamin Netanyahu's representative.^[96]

Public expression of interest

The following parties, which did not have representation in the Knesset prior to the 2026 election, expressed interest but chose not to contest it:

• A Whole and Strong Jewish Israel: The party, founded by far right activists Michael Ben-Ari and Baruch Marzel, was initially barred by the Registrar of Political Parties following a recommendation from the Shin Bet, though it was later allowed to run.^[97]

• Amir Avivi, founder of The Security Zionists, was planning to establish a new, centre-right party. He abandoned his plans fearing that too many parties running would have made it difficult for the right wing to win the election. ^[98]

• Unity dropped out on 4 September 2026.^[99]

• The Zionist Home – The Reservists alliance split on 5 September, with Hili Tropper joining Yashar, while Yoaz Hendel allied with the New Economic Party.^[100] Hendel and Tropper emphasized in a joint statement that they would continue working together, even if they are not part of the same party.^[101]

• The leaders of Standing Together launched an "Arab-Jewish party" on 16 June 2026 called A Place for Us All.^[102] The party is distinct from the movement.^[103] It decided not to submit a list on 8 September.^[104]

• Wajdi Sarhan, a former commander of the IDF, launched a new Druze party called "Brotherhood Alliance" on 4 May 2026.^[105] The party did not submit a list to run in the election.^[106]

Electoral negotiations and exploratory talks

• Beginning in April 2026, Benny Gantz held negotiations with Yoaz Hendel from The Reservists over a merger,^[107] with some talks also including Yaron Zelekha from the New Economic Party.^[108] By June, they also included former Fire and Rescue Commissioner Dedi Simchi,^[109] which reportedly reached a stalemate in early August.^[110] Talks between Gantz and Hendel stalled over the possibility of a coalition with Haredi parties, which Hendel staunchly opposed,^[111] and talks collapsed by early July. Hendel partnered instead with Hili Tropper as "Foundations of Israel".^[112] Gantz later reportedly held talks with Ayelet Shaked for a potential alliance.^[113] Gilad Erdan of Unity also met with Tropper for negotiations, but the two differed in their willingness to coalition with The Democrats.^[114] By late August, Erdan also held later-confirmed talks with Gantz on an electoral alliance.^[65][115] In the final party list submission, two lists represented this "third bloc": Blue and White, and a joint list between Zelekha and Hendel.^[116]

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed an alliance in August between Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party, which Otzma head Itamar Ben-Gvir strongly opposed. Polling by Otzma indicated that a merger would weaken that party, while Amcha Yisrael, a new party headed by Ofer Winter, would benefit.^[117] Netanyahu called for a meeting of the two parties, which Ben-Gvir dismissed. Likud, in response, accused Ben-Gvir of wanting to "burn tens of thousands of right-wing votes." The two parties had previously agreed to run together in the 2022 election, after Netanyahu brokered a similar agreement between the two, which resulted in the joint list winning 14 seats.^[118]

• From late summer 2025 to mid-2026, key opposition leaders held bilateral and multi-party meetings to coordinate strategy against the government.^{[119][120][121]} In September 2025, Yisrael Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman, Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid, Yashar's Gadi Eisenkot, and The Democrats' Yair Golan established a "permanent forum" focused on developing a policy platform for a national constitution, universal military conscription, and preservation of the Jewish, democratic, and Zionist character of the state.^[122] Lieberman also issued policy guidelines for a post-Netanyahu coalition.^[119][123] Broader attempts at a unified multi-party alliance, particularly involving Naftali Bennett, Eisenkot, and Lapid,^[124] faced friction over leadership positioning.^[125] Ultimately, Bennett and Lapid reached an agreement to run on a Bennett-led joint electoral list named Together in April 2026.^[126] The five opposition leaders (Eisenkot, Bennett, Lapid, Golan and Lieberman) signed a document in late September 2026 in which they pledged "not to attack each other on the campaign trail" and to work together to increase turnout.^[127]

Balad

Balad held its party primary on 27 June 2026. Sami Abu Shehadeh was re-elected as party leader, while the rest of the list included Bechar Aouda, Maher Karkabi Sabah, Hassan Nasarsa and Orly Noy, board chairwoman at B'Tselem and the list's first Jewish candidate.^[128]

The Democrats

Following Labor's poor electoral performance in the 2022 election, in which it won the minimum seats needed for entry into the Knesset and Meretz failed to cross the electoral threshold,^[129] party chair Merav Michaeli announced in December 2023 that she planned to resign.^[130] Yair Golan won a landslide victory in Labor's May 2024 leadership primary election on a platform promising to unify the political left.^[131] Labor and Meretz agreed to merge in July 2024, forming a new political party called The Democrats, with Golan serving as the unified party leader.^[132] The new party approved the merger in May 2026.^[133] The Democrats held a digital primary on 20 July 2026, with 97,000 of its 112,000 registered members casting ballots, an 86 per cent turnout.^[134] Party leader Golan secured the top spot on the list, followed by serving MKs Naama Lazimi, Gilad Kariv, and Efrat Rayten.^[135]

Hadash

Hadash closed its primary nominations on 14 May; the parties committee, known as the National Council, was allowed to cast ballots.^[136] The party held its primary two days later; former MK Yousef Jabareen defeated Shukry Awouda for the position of chairman. Incumbent leader Ayman Odeh and MK Aida Touma-Suleiman did not stand for re-election.^[70] It was the first party to select its electoral slate before the election.^[137] The Hadash list included Jabareen, Jafar Farah, Ofer Cassif, Youssef Atauna and Nihaya Wishahy.^[138] Farah, who was placed fourth on the Joint List, withdrew from the race following sexual harassment claims^[139] and was replaced by Faten Ghattas.^[140]

Likud

Likud formalized an agreement in August 2025 for the New Hope party to merge into it ahead of the next election.^[141] The merger has not been approved by the Knesset House Committee as of July 2026.^[142] Following multiple legal battles and postponements, the party's primary elections were rescheduled from 4 to 17 August 2026.^[143] The internal race has been marked by disputes over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's push to expand reserved slots, alongside a party court ruling that barred incumbent lawmakers and ministers from running in regional district spots.^[144] On 17 August, the 2026 Likud primary was held with a 53% turnout for a total of 76,068 party members voting.^[145] Party members voted for their preferred candidates with reserved slots for specific regional districts and for party leader Benjamin Netanyahu.^[146] The top candidates in the resulting party list are Netanyahu, Eli Cohen and Amir Ohana.^[147][148]

Ra'am

The Ra'am party announced in late July 2026 that it would hold its first independent primary on 22 August.^[149] The party's list includes Mansour Abbas, Walid Taha, Waleed Alhwashla, Iman Khatib-Yasin (in the reserved woman's slot) and Yasser Hujirat.^[150]

Religious Zionist Party

The Religious Zionist Party re-elected party leader Bezalel Smotrich in September 2025.^[151] In July 2026, the party held primaries to determine its electoral slate for the upcoming election,^[152] with 130 members of the parties' Central Committee voting to select candidates.^[153] Smotrich retained his position at the head of the list, followed by incumbent lawmakers Orit Strook, Simcha Rothman, Zvi Sukkot, and Ohad Tal.^[154] The final list remains subject to adjustments, as Smotrich retains the authority to appoint two reserved seats, including an expected spot for Tzvika Mor.^[155]

The Reservists

Yoaz Hendel was elected head of the The Reservists party on 9 June.^[156] A week later, the party held their primaries.^[157]

Artificial intelligence and deepfakes

Artificial intelligence (AI) was heavily incorporated into both campaign strategy and voter behavior during the 2026 election cycle. The Central Elections Committee (CEC) implemented new transparency guidelines in July 2026 that mandate the explicit labeling of all political ads and campaign materials produced or substantially modified by AI.^[158] Despite these rules, a tracking study carried out in the run-up to the election by the Open University of Israel revealed that over one-eighth (roughly 13%) of all social media posts pertaining to the election were AI-generated or manipulated, with Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party responsible for about one-third of the content that was flagged.^[159] Additionally, the electorate was directly impacted by the technology. According to an Israel Internet Association public opinion survey, 25% of Israeli voters, or one in four, intended to use large language model chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini to help them choose which party to vote for. While security experts cautioned that the consulted chatbots frequently relied on static data, suffered from hallucinations, or subtly reinforced the users' preexisting political biases, the same study highlighted systemic vulnerabilities, noting that 71% of respondents reported encountering election-related disinformation online.^{[160][161][162]}

Netanyahu posted an AI-generated ad to his social media that appeared to show Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot bypassing a person wearing a shirt that said "Israeli unity" to instead embrace Ra'am head Mansour Abbas; journalists Guy Peleg and Barak Seri maintained that the person with the shirt was meant to allude to Eisenkot's dead son, although Likud denied this.^[163] The chair of the CEC, Noam Sohlberg, ordered the Religious Zionist Party on 26 July 2026 to remove an AI-generated campaign video, which appeared to show someone resembling Eisenkot meeting with Mansour Abbas and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, on the grounds that it could be "misleading to voters".^[164] Later that month, Jonatan Urich, a campaign advisor for Netanyahu, removed an AI-generated video after Yashar threatened to file a lawsuit over it.^[165] Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich shared an AI video in mid-September that showed Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara being "dragged at a protest". President Isaac Herzog and others, including Eisenkot, Together leader Naftali Bennett and The Democrats head Yair Golan, strongly condemned the video.^[166]

Netanyahu has focused his platform on the Iranian regime's threat, portraying it as Israel's top priority and an existential turning point.^[167][168] Artificial intelligence (AI) content was also used more widely during the campaign to influence voters.^[169] Netanyahu shared an AI-generated picture of a nuclear explosion over Tel Aviv on X on 25 October 2026. The post, which was accompanied by text warning of a "second Holocaust" from an unchecked Iranian regime, called domestic discussions such as military draft evasion a "smokescreen," saying that "nothing else will matter anymore." The image was strongly denounced by political rivals, including Yair Golan of The Democrats, who questioned Netanyahu's stability and accused him of using fear tactics.^[170]

Disqualifications of individuals and parties

The Democrats filed a petition on 14 September before the CEC to bar Otzma Yehudit.^[171] Otzma Yehudit filed a petition against the Democrats that same day.^[172] The panel voted on 24 September against disqualifying the Democrats by a vote of 14-2 and voted 19-10 against a petition to disqualify Otzma Yehudit. It also dismissed the disqualification of the Religious Zionist Party by a vote of 21-3.^[173] The decision to allow Otzma Yehudit to run, as well as petitions against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Tally Gotliv, was appealed to the Supreme Court of Israel on 29 September.^[174] The disqualification petitions against Otzma Yehudit, as well as Ben-Gvir and Gotliv, were rejected by the court on 4 October.^[175]

On 23 September, the CEC barred Ra'am and the Joint List, alongside its candidates Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh, from contesting the election.^[176] Adalah announced its intention to challenge this decision to the Supreme Court, with Joint List head Yousef Jabareen criticising the decision as discouraging Arab citizens "representing more than 1.25 million voters" from voting.^[177] Ra'am and the Joint List appealed their disqualifications to the Supreme Court on 29 September.^[174] The Supreme Court would have voted in favor of disqualifying Abu Shehadeh, but recommended that he submit his resignation to the CEC, which he did on 2 October.^[178] The Supreme Court overturned the disqualifications of Ra'am, the Joint List and Cassif the same day.^[179]

Shas campaign video

Shas released a campaign video in August, portraying a religious family on Shabbat, waiting for their son, who serves in the IDF, to arrive home for dinner. Notably, the party has supported legislation that would allow draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.^[180] Yashar issued a formal complaint over the video, criticising the use of IDF imagery in the video. CEC head Solhberg called for the removal of the video. Shas did not remove the video at first, though it later removed the video the same day and criticised Sohlberg.^[181]

Yashar campaign in Cyprus

Yashar launched a billboard campaign in Cyprus, targeting Israelis who were vacationing abroad.^[182] Fidias Panayiotou, a Cypriot Member of the European Parliament, was highly critical of the campaign.^[183] Several days later, an image showing one of the billboards being vandalised circulated,^[184] though it was later reported to be an AI-generated image.^[185]

Polling station voter tracking

On 17 September 2026, the High Court of Justice issued a ruling in the run-up to the elections, prohibiting political parties from gathering or sending real-time voter turnout and identity data from polling places on the grounds of privacy violations.^[186] On 18 October 2026, a former Likud campaign technology official filed a sworn affidavit with the High Court, reigniting the controversy despite the judicial ban.^[187] The party's recently released campaign app, according to the whistleblower, had settings that could use a smartphone's microphone to passively stream audio from polling places, getting around the law by tracking voters' identities as election workers read their names aloud.^[187]

The High Court of Justice ruled 2–1 on 22 October to forbid observers and representatives of political parties from digitally counting voters and sending real-time numerical totals from polling places to party operations. The ruling reversed a previous order from the CEC's acting director-general that permitted numerical tracking as long as individual identities remained anonymous. The majority was composed of Justices Ruth Ronnen and Khaled Kabub, "with Justice David Mintz dissenting".^[188]

Ethnic rhetoric

Media personality and Likud supporter Yinon Magal sparked widespread controversy in the last weeks of the campaign after making comments that were widely denounced as anti-Mizrahi slurs. The remarks were compared to historical electoral flashpoints involving ethnic denigration, like Dudu Topaz's "Chakhchakhim Speech" during the 1981 election campaign, and Yair Garbuz's "Amulet Kissers' Speech" in 2015.^[189] According to observers, the dynamic was different from previous elections in that disgruntled Mizrahi voters were thought to be more likely to switch to explicitly Mizrahi or right-wing religious parties within the pro-Netanyahu bloc, like Shas or Otzma Yehudit, rather than defecting to centrist opposition slates led by individuals like Gadi Eisenkot.^[189] In the previous controversies, the anti-Mizrahi slurs were from the left and the backlash was more damaging to the left. The unusual feature of the 2026 controversy was the anti-Mizrahi comments coming from the centre-right.^[190]

Security concerns

Increased worries about political violence and intimidation surfaced during the election cycle. Yair Golan, the chairman of The Democrats, received numerous severe death threats in August and September 2026 on social media and in public places. Some of the calls encouraged physical violence, such as saying he should be shot or hanged.^[191] The Democrats formally petitioned the High Court of Justice on 29 September 2026, requesting an order requiring Shin Bet security protection for Golan. The party argued that denying him a security detail led to an unfair and hazardous campaigning environment, particularly after threat protection was authorized for Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot.^[192] After reviewing the state's updated, non-Shin Bet security measures for opposition leaders during a closed-door hearing, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit suggested that the party withdraw the petition.^[193]

On 19 October 2026, eight days before the election, a campaign billboard belonging to The Democrats was severely vandalized, raising additional concerns about incitement. The words "wanted dead or alive," along with accusations that Golan was "a vile murderer of Jews" and references to the Ku Klux Klan, were scrawled across his face. The Democrats' stance on diplomatic engagement with the Palestinians and their willingness to form a government coalition with Arab parties appeared to be targeted in the graffiti. Golan posted pictures of the vandalized sign and said that while the billboard could be targeted, "hope will defeat hatred" at the poll.^[194]

The same day, a car carrying Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the fifth candidate on the right-wing Amcha Yisrael election list, was attacked in the town of Turmus Ayya, turning security threats into physical assaults in the West Bank. The car was targeted while Hassan-Nahoum was on a public diplomacy tour with the pro-settlement Regavim movement. While participants were told to duck, video footage from the scene showed a Palestinian tossing a rock that smashed right through the car's window, causing minor injuries to tour members.^[195][196] Ofer Winter, the leader of the party, heavily criticized the government after the attack, accusing it of concentrating on political targets while neglecting to combat terrorism or offer sufficient protection for election candidates.^[197]

In addition to threats directed at The Democrats leader Yair Golan, other well-known opposition figures were subjected to severe hostile rhetoric. As the election drew closer, Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and former chief of staff of the IDF, received multiple death threats in public and online.^[192] On 29 September 2026, the Shin Bet formally decided not to give Eisenkot an official state security detail, citing a lack of specific concrete intelligence to support it. Instead, the agency authorized his private guards to carry weapons and provided intelligence monitoring, despite a professional advisory committee's recommendation for state protection.^[198]

Yisrael Beitenu filed an official complaint with the Knesset sergeant-at-arms on 21 October 2026, six days prior to the election, after announcing that chairman Avigdor Liberman had received several explicit death threats. Among the threats were texts that called him a "Nazi bastard who hates Judaism" and said, "Only when you get a bullet in your head will you shut your mouth." The incident came after Liberman received a message threatening his execution in September 2026, which prompted Yisrael Beitenu to file a police complaint.^[199]

Following threats and an attack on the campaign trail, security for former prime minister and Together party chairman Naftali Bennett was doubled on the same day. As he visited Likud strongholds to win over undecided voters, the Shin Bet increased his level of protection to that of a defense minister. A local resident was charged with assault after two glass salt shakers were thrown at Bennett during a campaign stop in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, injuring two members of Bennett's staff. The increased threat environment was also attributed by security agencies to foiled plots by foreign agents connected to his previous actions against the Iranian regime.^[200]

Five days prior to the election, on 22 October 2026, President Isaac Herzog used his official speech at the state memorial service commemorating 31 years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to denounce severe rhetorical hostility in the campaign environment. Herzog explicitly denounced persistent threats of death made online against political party leaders, Knesset members, and elected officials. He also cautioned against the escalation of political violence, citing public roadside signs demanding the release of Yigal Amir, Rabin's killer, as a danger to democratic stability.^[201]

During a late-night campaign stop in Jerusalem on 22 October 2026, a glass bottle was hurled at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's motorcade close to the Mahane Yehuda Market.^[202] The incident happened in the midst of heightened tensions at the market, where the premier was confronted about domestic policies and security lapses by anti-government protestors and relatives of hostages held in Gaza.^[203] While the convoy proceeded unharmed, Israel Police and security personnel swiftly broke through the crowd barricades to look for the offender.^[204]

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Security Minister, strongly condemned the attack and placed it in the context of the larger 2026 election climate. He called it a direct result of political "incitement against the Prime Minister" and warned that political rhetoric from the opposition could turn into deadly physical violence. The political opposition, on the other hand, concentrated their criticism on the unstable atmosphere that followed. MK Gilad Kariv of the Democrats vehemently denounced the retaliatory physical attacks that Likud loyalists committed against protesting hostage families at the scene, accusing the government of deserting its people while inciting a violent campaign environment.^[205]

Voter suppression concerns

When Likud and Religious Zionism jointly announced plans to send about 2,000 political activists to polling stations in Arab communities for the election in October 2026, a significant controversy erupted.^[220] The parties used a "special mapping" of unsubstantiated fraud risks as justification for the operation, which sparked rumors that Likud was setting up unofficial monitoring teams to provide real-time reports from outside Arab precincts.^[220][221] According to media reports, Likud was preparing a significant number of pre-planned complaints in anticipation of losing the election, thereby setting the stage for a public "stolen election" accusation.^[221][222] The premise of these campaigns was rejected by Dean Livne, Director-General of the CEC, who stated that "there is no widespread fraud in Israel" and that the safeguards in place were adequate.^[223]

Arab political figures and civil rights groups sharply denounced the announcement, calling it a voter suppression campaign meant to scare Arab citizens.^[220][223] Critics argued that the activists' presence decreased voter turnout because they lacked official regulatory authority within the stations.^[220] Regulations permitting licensed gun owners to bring firearms into polling places raised concerns, so the Joint List and Adalah petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court for a weapons ban.^[224] The Supreme Court dismissed the petition on 25 October, accepting the state's argument that professional police security assessments could not be overturned on an operational basis.^[224][223] Adalah criticized the decision, saying that it permitted right-wing activists to operate as "armed militias" in minority communities.^[224] Additionally, local concerns about voter intimidation were made worse by the presence of Israel Police officers inside polling places in a number of Negev Bedouin towns.^[225]

Officials and volunteer groups worked to keep voting safe from interference amid worries about political manipulation and misinformation. Volunteers monitored polling sites, while the CEC used body cameras and online monitoring. Experts believed widespread fraud is unlikely but expressed concerns about trust in the results, especially if officials challenge unfavorable outcomes. Members of Likud questioned the election's fairness early on.^[226]

Transparency concerns

Election integrity

A number of political parties filed official complaints with the CEC on election day, claiming that there had been systematic tampering with actual ballots. The Amcha Israel party reported that its ballot slips, which were marked with the Hebrew letter Chaf (ך), had either been purposefully turned face-down to resemble blank voting slips or were entirely absent from several polling places.^[236] Similar to this, Yisrael Beiteinu filed an urgent complaint after its slips were discovered missing at a Kiryat Ono polling place; however, the CEC later stated that the station had enough supplies.^[237] Additionally, Yisrael Beiteinu reported a "serious irregularity" in Beersheba, where a voter was purportedly given a pre-sealed envelope containing a ballot from a rival Likud party.^[236]

The Reservists party, led by Yoaz Hendel, joined the list of factions that filed complaints with the CEC, citing multiple reports that its ballot slips, which had the letters "Dalet-Yud" (די) on them, had been vandalized or removed entirely. Hendel attributed the disruptions to a "fake news campaign" by Likud, calling the incidents a coordinated effort to suppress the faction.^[238] The Yashar party led by Gadi Eisenkot filed its own urgent petition in response to widespread reports of its ballot slips being flipped over, removed, or vandalized across the country. The extent of the incidents was described by the party leadership as a "systematic and deliberate attempt to sabotage the democratic process" as opposed to isolated mistakes.^[239]

There have been reports of irregularities in ultra-Orthodox communities. Voting slips for the Charedi Public party were completely missing from polling places in Bnei Brak, according to several voters, who had to specifically ask election supervisors for them. Public broadcaster Kan reported accounts from voters who alleged that supervisors only produced the missing slips upon direct demand, raising concerns over voter intimidation due to the uniform Haredi composition of the local polling staff.^[240]

The CEC released an official statement refuting claims of widespread fraud in response to the growing accusations from the various factions, including Yashar, Together, Amcha Yisrael, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the Reservists party. According to the CEC, "contrary to claims circulating online, there are currently no indications of systematic tampering with ballot slips." The committee urged voters to rely solely on official CEC communications channels for election updates and clarified that isolated, local reports were being looked into and handled individually on the ground.^[241][242]

By bloc

Seat changes are counted from the blocs' seats in the 2022 election: 64 for the Netanyahu bloc, 46 for the non-Arab parties of the anti-Netanyahu bloc (Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beiteinu and Labor), and 10 for the Arab parties (Ra'am and Hadash–Ta'al).

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Netanyahu's bloc (Likud + UTJ + Otzma + Shas + RZP–Zehut)	2,362,044	42.08	53	−11
	Eisenkot's bloc (Yashar + Together + Democrats + Yisrael Beiteinu)	2,118,403	37.74	48	+2
	Arab parties (Joint List + Ra'am)	830,424	14.79	19	+9
	Others	302,285	5.39	0	0
Total		5,613,156	100.00	120	0
Source: Central Elections Committee[252]

Exit polls

As of 02:17 Israel Standard Time on 28 October 2026, seven exit polls were released and updated:

Government formation