tel aviv
A deeply divided Israel heads to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since the launch of Israel’s war on Gaza in 2023, with voters delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s rightward drift.
Israelis are casting their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign.
The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.
The last polls to be published showed Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, running neck and neck with his main centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot, a political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent.
Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, with more than half a million young people due to cast their ballot for the first time. Surveys show they overwhelmingly identify as centre-right or right-wing.
Tens of thousands of Israelis are estimated to have flown in from abroad to vote in an election seen as crucial to deciding the future character of their country. “I think this is one of the most important election days in the history of the state of Israel,” Uriel Brandler, a 58-year-old real estate agent, told AFP in Jerusalem the day before the vote. “The country definitely needs a change for the better in every aspect.” Netanyahu, 77, has served as Israel’s prime minister on and off for more than 19 years.
The wily political operator focused heavily on his security credentials during his campaign, playing on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and insisting he is the only one who can keep Israelis safe.
