Voting in Israel's parliamentary election began at 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future in focus. About 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote at 12,018 polling stations across the country, according to the Central Elections Committee, with 36 party lists competing for the 120 seats of the Knesset. A governing majority requires the support of at least 61 members.

The election is Israel's first since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and triggered three years of regional war, and its first election held on schedule since 1988, following five elections between April 2019 and November 2022. The 25th Knesset formally dispersed on July 17, 2026, after lawmakers approved a dissolution measure by 62-0, though the election date remained the one established by law.

Mr Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has campaigned on his security record and his close ties with United States President Donald Trump. He cast his ballot in Jerusalem alongside his wife Sara, urging citizens to "go out and vote". His principal challenger is former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose centrist Yashar party has positioned itself as a moderate alternative. Mr Eisenkot resigned from Mr Netanyahu's war cabinet, citing disagreements over strategy in Gaza, and has campaigned on accountability for the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks.

Early turnout pointed to an engaged electorate. Three hours after polls opened, turnout stood at 16.68 per cent as of 10 a.m. local time, above the 15.9 per cent recorded at the same hour in the previous general election in November 2022 — the highest level at that hour in 45 years. About 1.2 million people had voted in the first three hours.

The latest opinion polls showed a tight race between Mr Netanyahu's right-wing bloc and opposition parties led by Mr Eisenkot, with neither camp expected to secure the 61 seats needed for an outright majority. That points to weeks of coalition negotiations after the vote. The contest has also turned on the judicial reform programme that prompted mass protests, disputes over military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men — an issue that nearly brought the government down in May 2026 — and the cost of living.

Preliminary results are expected the day after the election, with official results to be published on November 4. Whatever the outcome, the next government will face the same defining questions: the future direction of the Gaza ceasefire, accountability for the failures of October 2023, and how to govern a deeply divided country after three years of war.