Israelis vote in Knesset election

Israelis cast ballots on Monday to select members of the Knesset, the country's parliament.

The election features a crowded field of parties divided into two main political blocs and several smaller lists fighting for survival.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the right-wing Likud party, which heads the governing coalition. Likud campaigns on national security, Jewish nationalism, and opposition to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu’s coalition includes the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, a far-right party advocating for expanded settlements and tougher law enforcement. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads the Religious Zionist Party, which supports applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and advancing judicial reform. The coalition also includes the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, both of which prioritize maintaining exemptions from military service for yeshiva students.

The opposition bloc is led by the centrist Yashar party, headed by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Yashar focuses on government reform and replacing the current leadership. Naftali Bennett’s centrist B’Yachad party also opposes the government, emphasizing economic growth and the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men into the army. The left-wing Zionist Democrats, led by Yair Golan, campaign for civil rights and greater equality in military service. Secular nationalist Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman, seeks to reduce the influence of religious parties in government.

Arab Israeli politics are represented by the Joint List and Ra’am. The Joint List is generally left-wing, emphasizing civil rights and Palestinian national rights. Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am takes a pragmatic approach, focusing on crime and funding for Arab communities.

Several parties face the 3.25% electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset. Recent polls place the People of Israel party and the Reservists-Economic Party near this cutoff. Ofer Winter’s People of Israel supports Netanyahu for prime minister but demands haredi enlistment as a condition for joining a government. The Reservists-Economic Party, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, combines a security agenda with economic reform and demands a universal conscription law before forming a government.

The Haredi Public Party, led by Moti Leitner, offers an alternative to the established ultra-Orthodox parties. It supports broader haredi military service and core-curriculum studies in math and English. The outcome of the election will determine which of these lists crosses the threshold and influences the balance of power between the political blocs.