Israel election tests Netanyahu as war, ethnic tensions shape campaign

Business Standard · 27/10/2026, 4:56:34 am

As Israel goes to the polls on Tuesday, the first since the tumultuous events of October 7, 2023, it is being seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. Issues such as security, judicial overhaul, the secular-religious divide over national burden sharing, ethnicity, and the economy are at the forefront but talks of a two-state solution to the vexed Israel-Palestinian conflict have been pushed out of public discussions. Opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot are competing in a close race, with neither side assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. Netanyahu is seeking to retain power after three years of war and mounting demands for accountability over the October 7, 2023, attack. Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, has emerged as a principal challenger, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett is leading a separate oppositio