Story perspectives

Netanyahu Courts Right-Wing Parties Ahead of October 27 Election

By Drooid · Oct 22, 2026, 9:59 PM UTC · How we work

Center

Netanyahu courting rightwing voters

Israel will hold a national parliamentary election on October 27, 2026.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is courting voters of smaller right-wing parties instead of urging them to withdraw, to broaden his coalition ahead of the election.
Likud may win up to 49 seats and Eisenkot about 52, both under 61 needed.
President Isaac Herzog warned that political incitement and threats of violence persist in Israeli society.

Left

Palestinian voter exclusion

Israel will hold a parliamentary election on October 27, 2026 for the 26th Knesset.
The vote excludes roughly three million adult Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
About 7.3 million Israeli citizens aged 18+ can vote.
Benjamin Netanyahu, on corruption trial, leads a far-right Likud bloc holding 60 seats.
Polls suggest his bloc may miss 61-seat majority, fearing a caretaker government could order war.

Blindspot

The left-leaning sources note that roughly three million adult Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are excluded from voting in the October 27, 2026 Israeli parliamentary election.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Left-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Center-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The 29 May 1996 election, Israel’s first prime-minister vote, saw Benjamin Netanyahu defeat Shimon Peres by 29,457 votes and lead a Likud-Gesher-Tzomet alliance with only 32 Knesset seats—the smallest governing bloc. The vote followed the 1993 Oslo Accords that created the Palestinian Authority and established a pattern of coalition-driven governments and Palestinian voting exclusions that reappear in the projected 2026 race, prompting President Isaac Herzog’s warning of rising incitement.

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Netanyahu courting rightwing voters

Israel will hold a national parliamentary election on October 27, 2026.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is courting voters of smaller right-wing parties instead of urging them to withdraw, to broaden his coalition ahead of the election.
Likud may win up to 49 seats and Eisenkot about 52, both under 61 needed.
President Isaac Herzog warned that political incitement and threats of violence persist in Israeli society.

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