Netanyahu faces tough test as Israelis head to polls

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1221 EAT on Tuesday 27 October 2026

Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot has posted a video on X showing him being greeted by a crowd in the city of Ashdod as he heads to a polling station.

The opposition bloc has yet to announce who would lead a future governing coalition, but Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, is seen as its most likely candidate for prime minister.

Sociologist Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani has criticised Israel’s political system, arguing that it operates within what he describes as a “racist framework of Jewish supremacy”.

“None of the leaders who present themselves as an alternative to Netanyahu can genuinely be described as left-wing,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The horrifying reality we are witnessing is not simply the product of Netanyahu or the far right. It is rooted in Zionist political thought itself, which is structured around the principle of Jewish supremacy. There is no way around this fundamental fact,” he said.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party, has cast his ballot in the Knesset election.

“On election day, we should all be concerned about Israel’s future. We should all go out and vote. We cannot gamble with our security,” he said.

“We are determined to continue strengthening our security, advancing settlement plans and promoting Jewish identity, reforming the judiciary and, above all, Judaizing Hebron,” he added.

Smotrich, who has served as finance minister since 2022, is a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which relies on support from far-right parties.

He has also played a prominent role in government efforts to advance the annexation of the occupied West Bank and expand Israeli settlements there, which are considered illegal under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party plans to deploy teams to film Palestinian citizens of Israel voting outside polling stations, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The party has reportedly spent millions of shekels recruiting and paying workers to monitor polling stations in Arab communities, record voters and relay updates to its headquarters in real time, the newspaper reported.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, have cast their ballots in the Knesset election.

Herzog, who has served as president since 2021, previously led Israel’s Labour Party. He became opposition leader in 2013, during Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister, and held the position until 2018.

Casting his ballot in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir said the right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would prevail in the election.

“We shall win,” he said.

Ben-Gvir warned that an opposition victory could lead to a government headed by Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra’am party, which represents Palestinian citizens of Israel.

“That’s why everyone must go out and vote,” he said, adding that a coalition led by Netanyahu would ensure Israel’s strength.

“A strong, right-wing government means a strong State of Israel,” he said.

This is Israel’s first election since the October 2023 attacks and the subsequent war in the Gaza Strip, which has been described as genocidal. The vote takes place amid rising far-right sentiment and deepening divisions over the country’s future direction.

“Strains of Israeli society had always been given to violence and right-wing rhetoric, but the trends that had always been present had accelerated under the current government,” prominent Israeli sociologist Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani told Al Jazeera.

The election also comes as Israel’s international standing has deteriorated, with several of its allies imposing sanctions related to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, while many countries have condemned continued Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

When Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, dozens of delegates from around the world walked out, with some jeering and booing.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has become a prominent face of the country’s far-right politics, drawing international attention through his public statements and actions.

From declaring that he would “not allow” a US-brokered ceasefire deal with Iran that he considered “bad” for Israel to the televised treatment of detained activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, Ben-Gvir has faced widespread criticism.

The far-right politician, who has a criminal conviction for incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organisation, has exercised significant influence over Israel’s police and prison authorities since taking office as national security minister in 2022.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has become a prominent face of the country’s far-right politics, drawing international attention through his public statements and actions.

Ben-Gvir’s growing influence reflects the rise of far-right politics in Israel, as voters head to the polls amid deep divisions over security, the war in Gaza and the country’s international standing.

The election will test whether Netanyahu’s coalition can retain power or whether opposition parties can offer a viable alternative to the current government.

-Aljazeera

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