Overview
- Multiple final polls published Thursday show Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc narrowly ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc but with neither side reaching the 61 seats needed to form a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
- Arab-led parties Joint List and Ra’am are polling strongly and together could hold roughly 12–14 seats, making their turnout and choices potentially decisive under Israel’s proportional system and 3.25% electoral threshold.
- Naftali Bennett publicly pledged to repeal the judicial‑overhaul laws passed under the current government, a late campaign shift that sharpens the stakes over control of the courts if the opposition helps form a government.
- Campaign tensions have escalated: Democrats activists were physically attacked in a filmed incident, the police and land enforcement authority pledged not to invite National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir to accompany demolitions, and courts have limited parties’ voter‑tracking tools.
- Likud’s plan to use a new app to monitor turnout after the High Court restricted its Elector app highlights legal and privacy disputes that could shape election‑day tactics and the post‑vote bargaining that follows a likely stalemate.