Israel's parliament, called the Knesset, dissolved on Friday, July 17, 2026. National elections are now set for October 27. This will be the first national vote since the October 2023 Hamas attacks (Al Jazeera; Reuters).

The process was gradual. It began with a unanimous preliminary vote on May 20, 2026 (Global Affairs), moved through a committee review on June 1 (Knesset), and ended with a final batch of bills passed in the parliament's closing session (Asharq Al-Awsat).

This is the first time the Knesset has lasted its full four-year term since 1988 (Al Jazeera). In Israel, parliament usually collapses early and new elections get called before the term ends. So finishing the full term is unusual.

Israel's voting system works differently from systems like those in the United States or Britain. Instead of voting for an individual candidate, voters choose a party list. The whole country is treated as one big voting district. Parties get seats in the 120-member Knesset based on what share of the vote they receive, as long as they win at least 3.25% of the total. No single party has ever won more than half the seats on its own. That means after every election, parties have to team up and form a coalition — an alliance of parties that together control a majority. After results come in, Israel's president gives the first chance to build that coalition to the politician most likely to succeed (Al Jazeera).

The current party landscape looks notably different from the last election. According to a Channel 12 poll cited by Al Jazeera, Gadi Eizenkot's new party, Yashar, leads with a projected 23 seats. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is close behind at 22. A joint ticket called "Together," combining two former prime ministers — Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid — is projected to win 16 seats. Netanyahu led Israel's most right-wing government at the time of dissolution (Al Jazeera).

The path to dissolution was deliberate. The May 20 vote was unanimous (Global Affairs), showing that politicians across the board agreed the current government had run its course. Coalition faction leaders submitted the formal dissolution bill, according to House Committee Chair MK Katz (Knesset). The House Committee approved the bill for its first reading on June 1, with further debate expected (Knesset).

The broader context here matters considerably. This election will be the first national vote since the 2023 Hamas attacks (Reuters). That period has reshaped what Israeli voters care about most: security, recovering hostages, and how the war has been conducted. The polls suggest an electorate in flux. Yashar has emerged as the largest projected party. Bennett and Lapid have reentered the picture together. Likud is competitive but not dominant. Since no party is projected to come close to the 61 seats needed for a majority, the period after the election will likely involve intense negotiation across ideological lines. The president's choice of who gets the first chance to build a coalition could be decisive, especially if the gap between Yashar and Likud stays within the margin of polling error.

Whether these poll numbers hold over the next three and a half months is genuinely uncertain. Israeli campaigns often see late shifts, and new alliances can reshape the political picture in ways that polls struggle to capture. The 3.25% threshold also creates a dilemma for smaller parties: run alone and risk falling short of the cutoff, or merge with another party and lose some of their distinct identity in exchange for a better shot at winning seats. These calculations will intensify as October 27 approaches.

For Netanyahu, this closes a chapter on a government shaped around his own ideology. For the opposition figures polling competitively, the campaign is a chance to turn public dissatisfaction into a governing coalition. For Israeli voters, it is the first opportunity since a national trauma to have their say on the country's direction.