Israeli Election: 120 Seats Decide Fate in Tight Netanyahu Race
Voters cast ballots in a close contest defined by a referendum on the prime minister's 19-year tenure, with polls showing a narrow margin between pro and anti-Netanyahu blocs.
By Kwame Silva ·
Israelis cast ballots on Tuesday in a Knesset election that functions less as a traditional left-right debate and more as a direct referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu. He has held the premiership for 19 of the last 30 years. Current polling indicates a tight race between his supporters and his opponents, with the outcome hinging on the allocation of the Knesset's 120 seats.
Gadi Eisenkot, the leading opposition challenger, campaigned in Modi'in, a town situated between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Eisenkot is a former IDF chief of staff who entered politics four years ago. His party, Yashar, advocates for US-style term limits for the prime minister. He argues that power corrupts and calls for a country without lies. Voters at the rally praised his direct style, with one attendee stating she is tired of speakers and wants someone who does the work.
The opposition coalition includes former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman. Both men are from the nationalist right and previously worked closely with Netanyahu before falling out. On the far right, Yishai Fleisher of the Otzma Yehudit party argued in Bet Shemesh that Netanyahu must be pulled further to the right. Fleisher proposed expanding settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, creating a ministry for the voluntary departure of Palestinians, and implementing the death penalty.
Netanyahu’s campaign has focused on framing the choice as a binary between the right and Palestine. His posters place opposition leaders next to heads of parties representing Palestinian citizens, who comprise about a fifth of the population. Pro-Netanyahu media, including Channel 14, have kept opponents on the defensive. One exception occurred this week when a Channel 14 host called Eisenkot a Moroccan monkey. Eisenkot did not mention the slur at rallies, a move admirers viewed as restraint while critics saw as a lack of strategic grasp.
The close polling confuses observers given Netanyahu's record. The October 7, 2023 attacks occurred under his watch, and the subsequent war in Gaza killed more than 70,000 Palestinians. Israel states that a third of those killed were Hamas combatants, but the group was not eradicated. Netanyahu also faces issues including an ongoing corruption trial, the Qatargate affair, and his failed attempt to curb the supreme court. One voter who supported Netanyahu in 2022 but attended an Eisenkot rally stated that whoever was prime minister is responsible.
Netanyahu’s base remains loyal despite warnings of the October 7 attack that he ignored. His allies claim intelligence chiefs kept him in the dark, a claim they admit is unfounded. He is also viewed as a skilled coalition builder. Opposition hopes rest partly on liberal, secular expatriate Israelis flying home to vote. This group is not captured in standard polls and could decide the result if it turns on a single seat. Netanyahu stayed away from a state ceremony marking the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, sending a low-ranking minister instead.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, expressed optimism that opposition leaders can agree on a regional strategic process for security. He avoided using the words peace process. A video shared widely this week showed young Israelis at a Negev music festival singing Shir LaShalom, a song Rabin performed before his assassination. For some voters, that scene and the full flights home suggest the era of Netanyahu may be ending.
