Israel Election 2026: Key Dates and Quick Facts
Election day, the threshold, how many seats, who is running, and every date from the Knesset vote to a new government, in one place.
Israel holds its election on Tuesday 27 October 2026. Voters choose one of 38 party lists for the 120-seat Knesset. A list needs 3.25% of the vote, about 4 seats, to win any. A government needs 61 seats. Official results are expected around 4 November.
The election in one table
| Election day | Tuesday 27 October 2026 |
| Seats in the Knesset | 120 |
| Seats needed to govern | 61 |
| Electoral threshold | 3.25% of valid votes, about 4 seats |
| Voting system | One national vote for a party list. No districts. Seats are split by the Bader-Ofer method |
| Lists on the ballot | 38 |
| Polling hours | Most stations 7:00 to 22:00. Small stations, hospitals and prisons run shorter hours |
| Who can vote | Israeli citizens aged 18 or older by election day, registered at an address in Israel |
| Exit polls | After the polls close at 22:00 |
| Official results | About 4 November 2026 (expected) |
| Last public polls | Around 23 October. Publication stops before election day |
Who is running
Thirty-eight lists qualified. The ones with a real chance of seats are below. Each links to its profile.
- Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Ballot letters: מחל
- Yashar, led by Gadi Eisenkot. Ballot letters: דרך
- Together, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Ballot letters: רק
- The Democrats, led by Yair Golan. Ballot letters: אמת
- Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman. Ballot letters: ל
- Shas, led by Aryeh Deri. Ballot letters: שס
- United Torah Judaism. Ballot letters: ג
- Religious Zionism and Zehut, led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin. Ballot letters: ט
- Otzma Yehudit, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ballot letters: ב
- The Joint List. Ballot letters: ודם
- Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas. Ballot letters: עם
The smaller lists that poll near the 3.25% line are Amcha Yisrael, the Reservists and Economic Party and Blue and White. Every list's letters are in Ballot Letters and How to Make Your Vote Count.
What the polls say
Recent polls put Likud and Yashar roughly level at the top, each in the low 20s. In the poll average, Netanyahu's bloc is short of 61 on its own, and so is the opposition. That is why small parties, the threshold and surplus-vote pacts matter this year. See the poll tracker for every poll, and why Israeli polls are so hard to trust before you quote one.
To test what different results would mean, use the coalition builder.
Key dates
Already happened
- 14 July 2026: The Knesset passes a law freezing arrests of Haredi draft evaders, 58 to 54.
- 3 September 2026: The High Court strikes that law down.
- 8 September 2026: Deadline for parties to file their lists.
- 10 September 2026: Together signs a surplus-vote pact with Yisrael Beytenu. Yashar signs one with the Democrats.
- 13 September 2026: The Joint List and Ra'am sign a surplus-vote pact.
- 23 to 24 September 2026: The Central Elections Committee votes to bar the Joint List, Ra'am and two candidates.
- 27 September 2026: The committee approves the ballot letters for 38 lists.
- 2 October 2026: The Supreme Court overturns the bans on the Joint List and Ra'am.
- 6 October 2026: Likud and Religious Zionism-Zehut sign a surplus-vote pact.
Still ahead
- 16 October 2026: Deadline to sign surplus-vote agreements.
- 20 October 2026: Voting at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad.
- Around 23 October 2026: Last public polls.
- 27 October 2026: Election day.
- Around 4 November 2026: Results certified (expected).
- Within 7 days of certification: The president holds consultations and picks a candidate to form a government.
- 28 days after the mandate: Deadline to form a government. The president can add up to 14 days.
- If every route fails: New elections.
Dates marked expected can move. We update this page when they do.
How the count works in one paragraph
Parties under 3.25% win nothing. The qualifying votes are divided by 120 to set a price per seat. Each list gets as many whole seats as it can afford. The leftover seats go one at a time to the list with the highest average, which is its votes divided by its seats plus one. Pairs of parties can sign surplus-vote pacts to pool their leftovers. A government needs 61 of 120 seats. Read Election Math and How to Read the Polls and Surplus-Vote Agreements for the detail.
Sources
- Israel's Central Elections Committee, including the ballot letters approved on 27 September 2026.
- Israeli Supreme Court ruling of 2 October 2026 on the Joint List and Ra'am, as reported by The Times of Israel and Al Jazeera.
- Reporting by Ynet, Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post on the list filings and surplus-vote pacts.
- The Israel Gazette's poll tracker.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Israeli election in 2026?
The Israeli election is on Tuesday 27 October 2026. Most polling stations are open from 7:00 to 22:00. Exit polls follow the close of voting, and official results are expected around 4 November.
How many seats does the Knesset have, and how many does a government need?
The Knesset has 120 seats. A government needs 61. No party has won 61 alone, so Israeli governments are coalitions of several parties.
What is the electoral threshold in Israel?
A list must win 3.25% of valid votes to win any seats. That is about 4 seats. Votes for lists under the line do not elect anyone.
How many parties are running in Israel's 2026 election?
Thirty-eight lists qualified for the ballot. Around eleven have a real chance of winning seats. Most of the rest will fall well short of the threshold.
How long does it take to form a government after the vote?
The president holds consultations within 7 days of certification and picks a candidate. The candidate has 28 days to form a government, and the president can add up to 14 days. If every route fails, Israel goes to new elections.
Cite this page: The Israel Gazette. “Israel Election 2026: Key Dates and Quick Facts.” Updated 9 October 2026. https://israelgazette.com/election/israel-election-2026-key-dates-and-quick-facts/