Campaign
Israel votes on 27 October 2026 for the 26th Knesset. Who's running for Prime Minister, where the polls stand, and the coalition math behind the contest.
Current 2026 Polls
Projected seat allocation from the latest published polls. Hover any seat to see the party.
- Likud23
- Yashar (Eisenkot)21
- Together (Bennett-Lapid)18
- Shas11
- Yisrael Beytenu10
- Otzma Yehudit9
- The Democrats8
- United Torah Judaism8
- Ra'am5
- Hadash-Ta'al4
- Blue and White3
Who's running for Prime Minister
The declared and likely PM candidates for the 26th Knesset, with current polling support, projected party seats, and the realistic coalition each could form.
Benjamin Netanyahu
בנימין נתניהו28.0%PM support23Projected seatsContinuity in security and economic stewardship; advance the judicial reform; restore the right-religious bloc and pass yeshiva-student protection in Basic Law: Torah Study.
Path to 61: Needs Shas, UTJ, Otzma Yehudit, and Religious Zionism back at the table — the right-religious bloc has polled 49-53 seats since both Haredi parties walked out in July 2025.
Gadi Eisenkot
גדי איזנקוט26.0%PM support21Projected seatsRestore trust in government and the IDF after the failures preceding 7 October; rebuild civic unity; Zionist-only coalition with no Arab-party dependence.
Path to 61: Together + Yashar + Yisrael Beytenu + Democrats + Blue & White sums to roughly 60 — short of 61. No coalition with Arab parties; needs at least one Haredi party or one centrist defector from the right.
Naftali Bennett
נפתלי בנט19.0%PM support18Projected seatsA pragmatic right-of-center government that defends Israel decisively, restores fiscal sanity, and rejects both Netanyahu's coalition dependencies and any reliance on anti-Zionist parties.
Path to 61: Leads the Together (Beyachad) slate after the 26 April 2026 merger with Lapid's Yesh Atid; needs Yashar, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats — and at least one defector from the right — to reach 61. Will not sit with Ra'am.
Yair Lapid
יאיר לפיד7.0%PM support#2 on Together slateProjected seatsA liberal-Zionist alternative inside the Bennett-led Together slate; end Haredi draft exemptions, restore the AG's role, and rebuild centrist governance.
Path to 61: Running at #2 on Together's slate behind Bennett (Yesh Atid received 12 of the first 29 list spots). Path to PM runs through a future Together-led coalition where Bennett would rotate — or through Yesh Atid recovering its own list in a later election.
Avigdor Lieberman
אביגדור ליברמן4.0%PM support10Projected seatsUniversal national service across all sectors; secular-nationalist Russian-aliyah base; bring down the Netanyahu government and build a Zionist-only coalition.
Path to 61: Explicitly refuses to sit with either Netanyahu/Likud OR Ra'am — committed only to a Zionist government. The 10-seat Yisrael Beytenu faction is the swing block any coalition needs.
Benny Gantz
בני גנץ3.0%PM support4Projected seatsSteady wartime experience; broad national-unity government; supports a credible IDF conscription framework that shares the burden across all sectors.
Path to 61: Down from 12 to ~4 seats after the National Unity split (Sa'ar back to Likud, Eisenkot to Yashar). A minor partner in any opposition coalition; no realistic path as PM-candidate.
Bloc projection over time
Right-religious vs center-opposition seat projection across the published polls. The dashed line marks the 61-seat majority threshold.
Latest from the campaign trail
Netanyahu Pushes Reserved Likud Slate Slots; Bitan Files 'Constitutional Coup' Petition
Likud's Constitution Committee convened in the Knesset on Sunday, June 28, 2026, to weigh Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand for up to 10 or 11 reserved slots on the party's electoral slate, an unprecedented intervention ahead of the August 4 primaries. Reported beneficiaries include Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, both seen as electoral assets in a tight national race. Construction Minister Haim Katz, who chairs the committee, has resisted the breadth of the demand, and MK David Bitan petitioned Likud's internal court calling the move a "constitutional coup" against the party's roughly 100,000 members. Any rule change still requires Central Committee ratification; the panel also unanimously postponed the primaries from July 28 to August 4.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)Netanyahu Opens Direct Campaign Assault on Eisenkot Over Rafah and Philadelphi
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a Saturday night press conference on June 27, ostensibly called to defend the new US-brokered Lebanon framework, to launch his first direct campaign attack on former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the Yashar party leader now narrowly leading Likud in head-to-head premiership polls. Netanyahu argued that Eisenkot and his allies had opposed entering Rafah, seizing the Philadelphi Corridor, the pager operation, the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, and the expanded Hezbollah campaign that destroyed roughly 90 percent of its missile stockpile, decisions Netanyahu credits with reshaping the post-October 7 battlefield. Pairing the broadside with a Begin-style "no more civil war" pitch for a broad national government, the premier sought to win back center-right voters who drifted to Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Lieberman. Eisenkot called Netanyahu "a prime minister who blindly led to a historic low" who invests his energy in division, incitement, and encouraging draft evasion.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)Simchi Confirms Finalized Joint Run With Gantz, Open to Sitting With Haredi Parties
Former Fire and Rescue Commissioner Brig. Gen. (res.) Dedi Simchi declared on Army Radio (Galei Tzahal) on Sunday that his political alliance with Benny Gantz's Blue and White party has been finalized, ending weeks of speculation about a centrist merger. Simchi indicated the emerging alliance 'would sit with anyone but Arab parties,' positioning it as a Zionist-only opposition vehicle that could potentially cooperate with a Netanyahu-led government if no anti-Netanyahu bloc forms. Kan polling suggests the combined Blue and White, Reservists and Simchi slate would win roughly 5 to 7 Knesset seats, comfortably crossing the 3.25 percent electoral threshold. Yoaz Hendel's Reservists party remains in talks, though Hendel opposes Simchi's openness to sitting with the haredi parties, leaving a three-way merger uncertain. The announcement reshuffles the centrist field as parties scramble to lock in slates before the August 4 primaries deadline.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)Eisenkot Rejects Netanyahu's Broad Government Pitch, Vows to Replace October 7 Premier
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot dismissed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'broad national government' appeal on Sunday, calling him 'a prime minister who blindly led to a historic low, who works day and night in division and incitement.' The former IDF chief of staff, whose son Gal fell in Gaza in December 2023, said Netanyahu is 'not worthy of these people and certainly not to preach a moral about unity.' Eisenkot pledged that Israelis 'will replace the one who was in the position of prime minister on the morning of the October 7 massacre and has been running away from responsibility since then.' He vowed instead to build 'a government with a Zionist and national majority, which will take care of Israel's interests.' Polls show Yashar tied with or ahead of Likud ahead of the October vote.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)Zman Yisrael Poll: Eisenkot's Yashar Tops Likud for First Time, Opposition Hits 62 Seats
A new Zman Yisrael poll marks a campaign inflection point, putting Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party at 23 seats and Netanyahu's Likud at 21, the first survey to show the former IDF chief of staff overtaking the ruling party. Bennett and Lapid's Together alliance follows at 17, with Yisrael Beiteinu at 11, Shas at 10, Otzma Yehudit at 8, and United Torah Judaism and the Democrats each at 7. Zionist opposition parties together reach 62 of 120 Knesset seats, a workable majority to form the next government. The numbers reflect growing public confidence in security-credentialed leadership forged in the October 7 war and the campaigns that followed.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)Likud Constitution Committee postpones primaries to August 4; slate rules due Thursday
The Likud Constitution Committee voted unanimously on Sunday to postpone the party's 26th-Knesset primaries from July 28 to August 4, and pushed the voter-registry deadline from July 7 to July 10. The committee declined to make a final ruling on Prime Minister Netanyahu's request for authority to reserve 8 to 10 slots on the slate, including three inside the top ten, deferring the decision to a fresh set of primary rules scheduled to be released Thursday. The postponement was billed as procedural, ensuring proper time to onboard new members and finalize an orderly nomination process ahead of the October 27 general election. Netanyahu is guaranteed the top spot regardless of how the reserved-slot question is resolved.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)Netanyahu brands Eisenkot 'too cautious,' touts Rafah, Philadelphi and Lebanon wins
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened a direct election-trail attack on his rising challenger Gadi Eisenkot, branding the former IDF chief of staff as 'too politically cautious' to have ordered the operations that reshaped the battlefields against Hamas and Hezbollah. Netanyahu argued that under an Eisenkot government Israel would not have entered Rafah, seized the Philadelphi Corridor, eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, executed the 2024 pager operation, or destroyed 90 percent of Hezbollah's missile stockpile, leaving 'all of Radwan Force's terror tunnels right here on the border.' Eisenkot countered that Netanyahu 'blindly' led Israel to a 'historic low,' lies, and 'evades responsibility.' Polls put Eisenkot's Yashar party as the main right-leaning challenger to Likud.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)Likud Constitution Committee weighs reserving 8-10 slate slots for Netanyahu picks
The Likud Constitution Committee is weighing whether to grant Prime Minister Netanyahu authority to reserve 8-10 spots on the 26th-Knesset Likud slate, three of them inside the top ten — Kan put the current ask at eight or nine, after Netanyahu's earlier May proposal of up to ten. The proposal follows Netanyahu's retreat from replacing primaries with a selection committee, preserving the open primary system while ensuring senior unity figures including FM Gideon Sa'ar and former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon land in winnable positions on the list. Likud primaries are now scheduled no later than 28 July, with Netanyahu guaranteed the top spot, ahead of the general election on 27 October 2026.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)Netanyahu reportedly warns he could leave Likud if denied 10 reserved slate slots
Maariv reported that Netanyahu told Likud Central Committee chairman Haim Katz he would leave Likud if his demand for ten reserved seats on the 26th-Knesset slate is not granted, ahead of the constitution committee's reconvened Sunday vote on the primary system. Katz reportedly warned the move 'could crush Likud,' while Netanyahu countered that the standoff itself is the real threat. Allies cautioned that a split would only benefit Eisenkot, Lieberman, and Bennett.
Sources:(1)(2)Channel 12 and Kan surveys: Likud and Yashar pull ahead as Beyachad continues to slip
A Channel 12 poll Thursday put Likud at 23 seats and Eisenkot's Yashar at 21, with Bennett-Lapid's Beyachad slipping to 18. A separate Kan poll by the Kantar Institute (n=553, ±4.2%) put Likud at 24, Yashar at 22, and Beyachad at 16. In Kan's head-to-head matchups, Eisenkot led Netanyahu 43-39, Netanyahu led Bennett 44-41, and Eisenkot crushed Bennett 42-21 as preferred opposition leader. Neither the coalition bloc nor the Zionist opposition crossed 61 in either survey.
Sources:(1)(2)(3)(4)