Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Results from Israel’s hard-fought election pointed on Wednesday (October 28, 2026)to no clear winner as a leader of the Arab minority appealed to a hesitant opposition to join forces to end the divisive reign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With more than three-quarters of the vote counted, Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority in Tuesday’s (October 27) election, the first since the October 7, 2023 attack, which has led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.

Both Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister who is allied with far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief leading a broad opposition bloc, vowed that they would seek to form the next government.

But neither looks set to reach the 61-seat threshold for a majority. With 77% of ballots counted, Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc had 54 of the 120 seats in parliament and Eisenkot’s opposition had 49.

The final results could still change but one place of clear gains was among Israeli Arab lists which were set to jump to 17 seats.

Voters from the community, descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel’s creation and who make up around 20% of the population, have been enraged by the Netanyahu government’s ultra-nationalist Jewish vision for the country and the Palestinian territories.

Yousef Jabareen, head of the leftist Arab-majority Joint List, said the Israeli public had voted for new leadership, and “anyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu’s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us”.

“It’s either the continuation of racism, the continuation of exclusion and the continuation of supremacy, or a genuine Jewish-Arab partnership,” he said.

Mr. Eisenkot has resisted allying with Arab parties. Mr. Netanyahu, during the campaign, relentlessly attacked the Opposition by saying it would put Arabs in power, running on the slogan: “Either the Right or Palestine.”

Yair Golan, the head of Israel’s main left-wing party and a member of Mr. Eisenkot’s camp, became the first member of the Opposition camp to call for an alliance with Arab parties.

“Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120,” Mr. Golan said in a social media post. “We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes.”

But Mr. Eisenkot’s camp also includes right-wingers who share many of Mr. Netanyahu’s hawkish views and have adamantly rejected working with Arab lawmakers.

Arab lawmakers could also give Eisenkot support in parliamentary votes on an ad hoc basis, enabling him to maintain a minority government without joining a coalition, although few observers believe such an arrangement would survive for long.

Iran conflict

A lack of a clear majority for either camp could mean weeks spent trying to cobble together coalitions, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail.

“Maybe everybody lost in these elections but the Arab parties. And for the Arab parties, it’s unclear that they can make use of their huge success,” Hebrew University of Jerusalem political scientist Gideon Rahat said.

A stalemate could, in the immediate term, benefit Mr. Netanyahu, who would remain caretaker Prime Minister until a new government is formed.

Both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot appeared to indicate another factor was on the horizon — an Israeli attack alongside the United States on Iran.

Mr. Netanyahu ordered bombing campaigns against Iran both last year and earlier this year, reluctantly stopping only after President Donald Trump reached a now-moribund ceasefire.

In the days leading up to the election, Mr. Netanyahu repeatedly called for the overthrow of Iran’s government. News reports, which Mr. Netanyahu denied, said military top brass pushed back on his plans for pre-election action.

Mr. Trump has said that the United States is no longer negotiating with Iran but will not attack until after U.S. midterm elections on November 3, in which his Republican Party is forecast to lose ground.

Speaking to supporters at a rally, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel had a “unique opportunity” with Mr. Trump to “forever eliminate the existential threat of Iran”.

Mr. Eisenkot in his own post-election appearance, warned Israel’s security chiefs that they must serve the national interests and not the political needs of Mr. Netanyahu, who is a caretaker prime minister “without a mandate”.

“Netanyahu, don’t you dare use Israel’s security for your political needs,” Mr. Eisenkot said.

President’s role

All eyes will be on President Isaac Herzog, who usually keeps a low-key ceremonial role but who must decide whom to task with the first chance to form a government.

Mr. Herzog has reportedly supported a unity government, which could take on more urgency if Mr. Netanyahu attacks Iran, although Mr. Eisenkot has publicly ruled out serving with him.

MR. Netanyahu, who has served as Prime Minister on and off for more than 19 years, has divided Israeli society.

Facing criminal charges over corruption that he denies, Mr. Netanyahu has sought to revamp the judiciary.

He has also allied with far-right champions of extremist settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank with virtual impunity.

Mr. Netanyahu is also wanted by the International Criminal Court over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, where residents expressed uncertainty Wednesday as to what the outcome might mean for them.

“Our fear is that these elections might result in the emergence of an even worse leader and those who are more violent and bloodthirsty,” displaced Gazan Huda al-Houli told AFP.

Published – October 28, 2026 06:18 pm IST

Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrate at Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem following the release of the first exit poll results in Israel’s general election on October 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

A supporter holds a banner depicting Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during Israel’s national election, at Likud’s election headquarters in Jerusalem.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel’s markets have soared despite three years of war and political turmoil, but ​some investors see further upside if the Opposition defeats Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tuesday’s (October 27, 2026) election, potentially easing regional tensions and political risk.

Opinion polls point to a ‌tight contest, with neither Mr. Netanyahu’s ruling Likud bloc nor an opposition alliance centred on former military chief Gadi Eisenkot expected ​to secure the 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset needed to govern.

That raises the prospect of lengthy coalition negotiations or even ⁠another election. Since the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023, the Tel Aviv stock market has soared 130%, far outpacing Wall Street’s 80% gain, while the shekel has climbed 25%, one of the world’s strongest currency performances.

Analysts attribute some of that strength to Israel’s tech sector and the global AI boom, while defence spending, which ‌has nearly doubled to around 8% of GDP, has also provided a boost.

With both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot vowing to maintain pressure on Hamas and Iran, markets are focused on their broader policy differences. JPMorgan estimates the shekel could swing as much as ‌3% depending on the result.

An opposition victory that improves relations with Western allies and halts a judicial overhaul that sparked mass protests in ‌2023 ⁠could strengthen the currency, JPMorgan said, while another Netanyahu-led government could weaken it.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, while stopping short of backing ⁠a candidate, said a government without far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich would signal that Israel was “turning a new page”, potentially helping rebuild its international credibility and expand the Abraham Accords with its neighbours.

IBI Investment House also expects an Opposition victory to lift the markets. “From a capital markets perspective, this would likely be reflected in a decline in Israel’s risk ​premium, appreciation pressure on the shekel, and a positive reaction in the ‌local market,” IBI’s Chief Economist Rafi Gozlan said.

“The most significant issue is what the result will mean for the region,” said Equity Bank’s chief economic adviser Charlie Robertson. “If Netanyahu is reelected it might increase the chances of further escalation with Iran, whereas a defeat might be seen as lessening the tensions.”

But the prospect of gains under an Opposition government does not mean investors expect Israeli assets to suffer if Mr. Netanyahu ‌remains in power. Stocks and bonds have proved remarkably resilient through years of war and political upheaval, and some investors remain confident ​in the economy regardless of the election outcome.

Union Investment’s Sergey Dergachev has been buying Israeli bonds ahead of the election, betting the economy and companies he favours will remain fundamentally strong. “We are very constructive on Israeli credits going into the election,” Mr. Dergachev ⁠said, adding that bonds were less prone to major swings and the region’s intertwined conflicts should eventually ease.

Risks remain

Despite the rally, foreign investors remain cautious. Copley Fund Research data show the share of global funds holding Israeli equities is at a record low, having fallen sharply since 2023.

T. S. Lombard’s Christopher Granville cited ‌central bank estimates that the war had cost the economy more than $55 billion by last year, equivalent to 8.6% in cumulative lost GDP growth.

Israel’s fiscal position is another focus. Public debt has risen to nearly 70% of GDP, around 10 percentage points higher than in 2022, while the budget deficit is expected to remain around 4.5% of GDP, versus less than 2% before the conflict.

Central bank head Amir Yaron stressed last week the need to “preserve adequate fiscal policy space” given the Iran war.

Fundamental strengths

Like stocks, Israeli government bonds have rallied, returning about 30% over the last two years, more than double the main emerging market indexes.

The main risk for investors is an inconclusive result that prolongs political uncertainty, delaying budgets, reforms and investment, some investors ‌believe.

That uncertainty can produce sharp short-term swings. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange research covering the last 10 elections found volatility in leading share indexes rose by as much as ​45% in the weeks after voting compared with a typical week. But initial losses were typically recovered within a month, with the indexes posting an average gain of about 1.7%.

Over a longer horizon, the TA-125 returned an average 16.4% in the year ⁠following elections, compared with a long-term annual average of 11.5%, the research found. Political deadlock often weighed on stocks before voting, but the effects typically faded within months, ⁠said Nissan Avraham, an analyst at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s research unit.

That record supports the view that elections matter less for Israeli companies than many investors assume.

Lior Yochpaz, chief investment officer at insurance company Menora Mivtachim, said businesses have continued to thrive despite ‌years of political upheaval, judicial overhaul proposals and regional conflict, helped by a relatively business-friendly environment.

For some investors, however, the more attractive election trade lies outside Israel. TT International’s Jean-Charles Sambor said an Opposition victory or weakened Netanyahu government could ease regional tensions and benefit Lebanese bonds.

“The best way ​to play it for us is through other West Asia countries, and for us Lebanon is a good proxy,” Mr. Sambor said.

Published – October 26, 2026 09:27 am IST

Israeli election contender Gadi Eisenkot on Sunday (October 25, 2026) vowed to unite the country as he held his final major rally before the vote, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received fresh backing from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, but Mr. Eisenkot has cast him as unfit to lead and pledged a state commission of inquiry into the failings that led to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack under the incumbent’s watch.

Polls had shown Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot running neck and neck before a ban on new polling took effect in the three days before Tuesday’s (October 27, 2026) vote.

On Sunday (October 25, 2026), Mr. Trump urged Israelis to vote for Mr. Netanyahu, citing the U.S.-Israel war against Iran as an example of “winning together”.

“When you go to the Polls please remember that Bibi has been an outstanding Warrior Prime Minister,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname.

At his event, Mr. Eisenkot pledged to heal divisions inside Israeli society after Mr. Netanyahu’s divisive tenure, and voiced “a commitment to security and the economy”.

“Our goal is not for one side to defeat the other. That is not our way,” he said on Sunday (October 25, 2026) to an audience of hundreds.

“We will work to bring all Israelis together again — those who voted for us and those who did not.”

A relative newcomer to politics — in contrast with Mr. Netanyahu and his 30 years on the scene — Mr. Eisenkot’s pledge to unite Israelis has resonated with some voters, and for many the ex-army chief’s plain-spokenness is part of his appeal.

“I feel that he’s a rock for us… he’s someone I can trust,” Yael Shkedi, a 66-year-old jewellery maker, said at Mr. Eisenkot’s rally.

“Amid all this chaos, what really matters to me is this feeling of someone who can somehow bring everyone together, almost like a father figure.”

In his speech, Mr. Eisenkot said he would “always look you in the eye and tell the truth”, and pledged to “take responsibility for both successes and failures”.

He also appealed directly to wavering supporters of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party, urging them to change course.

“Deep down, you too know that Israel cannot go on like this,” he said. “Israel needs change.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s critics accuse him of putting his political survival above the greater good, and he is currently facing trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

Rally attendee Chen Sharon, an army reservist, said she wanted “people that I can count on” in office.

“We need someone that we can actually believe his values and what he represents to us,” she said.

‘A catastrophe for Israel’

Over the course of the campaign Mr. Netanyahu has played to Israeli voters’ opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, and posters have been splashed across the country with the slogan “Either the Right or Palestine”.

Mr. Netanyahu also touted the still-unresolved war that he launched against Iran alongside Mr. Trump, seeking to tar his main rival as being soft on the Islamic republic.

Appearing after Mr. Eisenkot’s rally on Channel 14, Mr. Netanyahu again suggested the ex-general and his allies “want to create a Palestinian state, a catastrophe for Israel”.

“They will not destroy Iran’s nuclear programme,” he told a boisterous studio audience. “We’ve done 90% of the work, 10% remains. Who is going to do it? Mr. Eisenkot and the Muslim Brotherhood? No. Only I can do it.”

Mr. Eisenkot has said he is opposed to a Palestinian state, but has vowed to crack down on extremist West Bank settlers who have attacked Palestinians with impunity.

Mr. Netanyahu on Sunday (October 25, 2026) posted an AI-generated image of a mushroom cloud engulfing Tel Aviv, alongside text attributed to a right-wing political commentator calling Iran an existential threat and arguing that all the other issues discussed this election season were trivial in comparison.

In a post on X addressing Mr. Netanyahu on Saturday (October 24, 2026), Mr. Eisenkot accused the premier of playing up the Iran threat when it suited him politically.

“You have once again failed spectacularly and blatantly to achieve the war objectives you yourself set,” he added.

Longtime opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has promised to join a coalition with Mr. Eisenkot, said Mr. Netanyahu had “lost his grip”.

“Yesterday, Mr. Netanyahu announced that U.S. security aid was over and that sanctions would crush our economy. This morning, he posted a video in which an atomic bomb lands on Tel Aviv,” he said on X.

“This man has lost his grip. We absolutely must send him home.”

Published – October 26, 2026 09:03 am IST

Israeli soldiers operate as they block roads during a military operation in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

People walk past a Likud party campaign billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside opposition party leaders and bearing the Hebrew slogan “Right or Palestine,” ahead of Israel’s general election, in Beni Brak, on October 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israel said on Sunday (October 25, 2026) all land crossings with the West Bank will be closed on the day of next week’s election, as it pledged a harder line on militancy after Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers in the territory.

The announcement came a day after Israeli forces pushed into the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and displaced around 2,000 residents, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying, “they will not be allowed to return… until we’ve finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron”.

Hamas, while not claiming credit, hailed Friday’s (October 23) killings at a checkpoint near the Palestinian city, in which attackers shot dead two Israeli soldiers and wounded three more.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exact a heavy price for the attack just days before polls and said he was planning an operation on a scale not seen since Israel first occupied the West Bank in 1967.

The Israeli Army said that, from Sunday (October 25), Palestinians would “not be permitted to enter Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley for work”, using terms many in Israel use to refer to the West Bank.

The Army also said it would enforce “a ban on the entry and exit of Palestinian workers throughout Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including industrial zones, as well as the closure of all land crossings throughout Election Day” on October 27, it added.

Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s (October 27) polls, with his security-first reputation all but shattered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.

The Palestinian Authority, the semi-autonomous body that governs parts of the West Bank in cooperation with Israel, called for international pressure on Israel to protect residents affected by the military operation.

The Israeli Army said that over Friday (October 23) and Saturday (October 24), it operated in 40 areas throughout the territory, with locals reporting that soldiers announced evacuations over loudspeakers late at night.

Israeli forces said they “apprehended approximately 40 suspects, including terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations”.

‘Painful price’

In the Hebron neighbourhood of Ein Deir Baha, nestled between two hills, vacated buildings were marked by X’s and the streets were deserted, save a pair of Israeli military vehicles.

Israeli flags were draped on a house on the slope apparently taken over by troops.

Higazi Shawer al-Tamimi, 70, a shopkeeper who plays a leadership role in the neighbourhood, said he was awakened at 1:00 a.m. by soldiers and a senior officer who said he had to leave.

“I asked them how long the evacuation would last. They said: ‘Until further notice.'”

He told AFP he had only a short time to pack, adding that for some residents, getting out of the neighbourhood was an ordeal.

“For example, my wife’s mother, who is 90 years old and lives in the area, had to be carried out because she is ill,” he said.

Right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position in the defence ministry overseeing civilian affairs in the West Bank, said he personally ordered “the immediate demolition of a row of illegal structures” following Friday’s (October 23) shooting.

“Anyone who messes with us will quickly understand that he will pay a painful price,” he wrote on X.

To Mr. Tamimi, the West Bank operation is only happening because Mr. Netanyahu wants to win the election on “the blood of the Palestinian people”.

He said people were not going anywhere. “I have lived through all the stages of the occupation, and I will die here.”

But Mr. Tamimi’s brother, Khaled Shawer al-Tamimi, 68, said he and his son left after the evacuation order rang out.

“The Army was announcing through loudspeakers: ‘Leave the area.’ So we left.”

He told AFP he was surprised to hear Friday’s (October 23) assailants came from the neighbourhood, which he described as middle-class and law-abiding.

“We have never seen or even heard a single gunshot being fired,” he said from his son’s sitting room as children flitted about.

The Israeli military said the operation would last several days, but Mr. Netanyahu suggested bigger action was coming.

Published – October 25, 2026 09:25 am IST

Gadi Eisenkot, the man who could unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, almost always dresses in plain black, speaks halting English and, reflecting the military culture that shapes him, responds in interviews in bullet-point lists.

For some voters, the 66-year-old Mr. Eisenkot’s lack of charisma may be one of his greatest assets.

Serious and unassuming, Mr. Eisenkot is in many ways the opposite of Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, who has flawless American-accented English and is ever ready with headline-grabbing soundbites on U.S. television or social media.

Mr. Eisenkot, the military chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, has vowed to unite Israelis after the divisive tenure of Mr. Netanyahu, who has moved the country sharply to the right.

“There is a large camp in Israel whose main goal in the coming election is just for things to be calmer,” said Tal Elovits, a researcher at the Molad think tank.

“The middle class,” he said, “is looking for someone who will look responsible, boring. I think Mr. Eisenkot has that appeal.”

Mr. Eisenkot, who is neck and neck with Mr. Netanyahu in polls, has promised to try to restore the international image of Israel, badly strained after three years of war in Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank.

Mr. Eisenkot has vowed to crack down on West Bank settlers who have attacked Palestinians with impunity and recently beat up an American journalist and a French mayor, decrying the incidents as “Jewish terror” abetted by Mr. Netanyahu’s government.

But the military man is no peacenik. He has even sought to play to the right of Mr. Netanyahu by vowing no Palestinian state, replaying clips from an earlier political era in which the long-serving Prime Minister begrudgingly voiced openness to the idea under U.S. pressure.

Commanding the military during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Mr. Eisenkot devised the so-called “Dahiya doctrine”, named after a Beirut suburb, in which Israel vowed massive force against civilian infrastructure in areas populated by the Lebanese militants.

Israel has adopted the doctrine again in Gaza, causing destruction that critics say amount to war crimes, an assertion disputed by Israel.

Working-class roots

Mr. Eisenkot has garnered broad public sympathy after his son Gal and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza.

His working-class roots constitute another element of his appeal. He would be the first Prime Minister who is Sephardic, Jews who trace their recent origins to the West Asia and North Africa.

Unlike Mr. Netanyahu, who comes from an elite family and whose father was a prominent professor in the United States, Mr. Eisenkot is the son of Moroccan Jews, and grew up on Israel’s geographic periphery.

His background came into the spotlight when a senior commentator on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 television station described Mr. Eisenkot as “a monkey” controlled by “Ashkenazi elitists”. He was referring to Jews of European descent who have historically dominated Israel’s political and economic institutions.

While the term is not necessarily a racial slur in Hebrew and can mean a “fall guy” taking the blame on behalf of others, the remark drew widespread condemnation from opposition politicians and from Mr. Netanyahu himself.

Mr. Eisenkot swiftly sought to turn the episode to his advantage.

His campaign erected billboards denouncing discrimination against the Sephardim, and his party accused Mr. Netanyahu of sidelining Sephardic members of the Likud by limiting their media appearances during the campaign.

Limited change on security

In a pair of weekend appearances, Mr. Eisenkot went from meeting LGBTQ activists, promising the community greater protection in a forum at a hip cafe, to meeting religious Jews to whom he defended Israeli control over the West Bank.

“Israeli settlement (of the West Bank) is a value, on condition that it serves the interests of the state of Israel, and it’s done according to the law,” he told representatives of the Religious Zionist movement on Sunday (October 18, 2026).

He appeared to be rejecting the establishment of unauthorised settlement outposts, which have fuelled a recent rise in violence against Palestinians.

On Gaza, he has vowed to end Hamas rule within 18 months. Last week he said this could be achieved either through the implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, which envisages Hamas’s gradual disarmament and a transfer of power, or through “creative operations” aimed at destroying the movement’s military wing.

Addressing a key source of resentment among Israelis following three years of war, Mr. Eisenkot has promised to curb exemptions from military service for religious students.

He promised a “universal national service law” requiring ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens to perform either military or civil service.

He has sought to appeal to centrist and liberal voters by pledging to “protect judicial independence, the rule of law, minority rights and a free press”.

Published – October 22, 2026 11:23 am IST