Overview
- Parliament confirmed on July 12 that national elections will be held on October 27, 2026, and the Knesset legal adviser said the current parliament will complete its term rather than be dissolved early.
- The government is racing to pass contested bills before the Knesset adjourns around July 17 so those laws take effect or shape the campaign before legislative activity slows.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared he will run and is pitching a ‘broad national government’ while seeking to reframe the campaign around national security and regional operations.
- Inside Likud, a party vote is scheduled on a proposal to scrap direct primaries in favor of a selection panel that would reserve slots for Netanyahu’s picks, a move aimed at consolidating his control over the candidate list.
- Polling shows a weakened Likud and rising support for former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, leaving coalition math uncertain and making smaller parties decisive in post‑vote bargaining; if the schedule holds, this will be the first Israeli election held on its original date since 1988 and the first government since 1973 to complete a full term.