Story perspectives

Netanyahu Faces Eisenkot Challenge as Polls Close Gap

By Drooid · Oct 27, 2026, 10:06 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running for re-election on Oct. 27, 2026.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot leads a centrist alliance challenging Netanyahu’s Likud bloc.
Polls give Likud 48 seats and Eisenkot’s bloc 54 seats, both under the 61-seat majority.
Eisenkot promises to end the de facto ultra-Orthodox military exemption.
U.S. President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Netanyahu and warned a different leader would force America to act alone.

History

Historical Context

Israel’s 1949 Defense Service Law required conscription, yet a 1948 pact with Haredi leader Yitzhak-Meir Levin allowed Torah study instead. The Supreme Court struck down the Tal Law in 2012 and in June 2024 ruled blanket Haredi exemptions illegal, prompting a draft of 3,000 men. Today Netanyahu’s Likud and Eisenkot’s centrist bloc push a new law to end the exemption, echoing the 1998 court ruling.

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Story summary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running for re-election on Oct. 27, 2026.
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot leads a centrist alliance challenging Netanyahu’s Likud bloc.
Polls give Likud 48 seats and Eisenkot’s bloc 54 seats, both under the 61-seat majority.
Eisenkot promises to end the de facto ultra-Orthodox military exemption.
U.S. President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Netanyahu and warned a different leader would force America to act alone.

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