Israel confirms general election date

Israeli authorities have confirmed that the country’s next elections will take place on 27 October, the latest date permitted by law, with the current coalition becoming the first to serve out a full term of government since 1973.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, will lead the Likud party into an election for a twelfth time, despite an ongoing corruption trial, a lack of clarity on the future of Gaza, a slump in international support for Israel, and the shadow of the security failures which led to the 7 October 2023 invasion by Hamas. Current polling suggests that the parties in Netanyahu’s current coalition will fall far short of the 61 seats needed to form a majority in the Knesset.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s remarks suggest he will campaign on a platform of finishing the conflict against the Iranian regime, with the senior politician saying that “after we have removed the Iranian existential threat, the broad national government can make peace within ourselves, deal with the remnants of the Iranian axis and reap the fruits of our victory in political agreements like the one we are making with Lebanon – and there are a few more on the way.” Netanyahu’s recent statements also show that he will repeat previous suggestions that his opponents will make a deal with Israeli Arab parties to defeat him. On Monday, he tweeted that “For Gadi [Eisenkot, currently Netanyahu’s main challenger], there’s no government without Mansour [Abbas] and [Ahmad] Tibi.”

By contrast, Israel’s opposition bloc, which includes centre-left and right wing parties, will have a wide variety of contentious initiatives spearheaded by the current coalition government to campaign against. These include the ongoing attempts to strip the Supreme Court of judicial oversight powers, attempts to create a new status quo in the West Bank by building a new swathe of settlements, the introduction of a death penalty law for terrorists, and continued attempts to prevent enactment of requirements for strictly orthodox youth to serve in the army.

The current Knesset session is due to end this coming Friday. Airlines are expected to see a significant increase in the number of Israeli expats seeking to travel back to the country ahead of the election in late October; Israeli election law requires almost all citizens – exceptions include those serving in diplomatic roles abroad – to physically cast their votes in Israel.