BREAKING: Live Updates: Polls Close Soon in Israeli Election as Netanyahu Fights for Political Survival

 

Live Updates: Polls Close Soon in Israeli Election as Netanyahu Fights for Political Survival

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition faces an opposition loosely led by a former military chief of staff. Election officials reported record turnout but a clear winner might not emerge immediately.

Updated 

Oct. 27, 2026, 2:40 p.m. ET36 minutes ago

Aaron BoxermanDavid M. Halbfinger and Leo Sands

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/10/27/world/israel-elections

 

Here’s the latest.

Israelis flocked to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday in what is widely seen as the most consequential election in the country’s history, as voters decide whether to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition in power or chart a new course.

By 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. Eastern), four hours before polls were scheduled to close, 66.7 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots.

Turnout appeared to be particularly high, compared with previous elections, among Arab citizens, who make up about a fifth of Israel’s population. By late afternoon, hours before the polls were set to close, turnout in some Arab-majority towns had exceeded the totals from the last election, in 2022.

Responding to the high turnout in those towns, Mr. Netanyahu accused Arab citizens of “trying to steal the elections,” repeatedly using brazen and overtly racial appeals to push his right-wing base to vote.

The election is Israel’s first since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, upended the nation and ignited three years of war.

Voters have a choice between two blocs offering starkly different visions. Mr. Netanyahu is seeking re-election at the helm of the most far-right government in Israeli history. His coalition of nationalists and ultra-Orthodox Jews faces an ideologically diverse group of Jewish opposition parties loosely led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff whose son was killed in the Gaza war. Parties representing Arab citizens of Israel also staunchly oppose Mr. Netanyahu’s government.

Both sides are framing the election as a make-or-break moment for the country. Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition offers the promise of a more religious Israel with an ever-tighter grip over the West Bank and Gaza. His opponents are casting the vote as the last chance to preserve democracy and pull Israel back from the brink of becoming a pariah state under international sanctions.

Voting will close at 10 p.m., but there is unlikely to be an immediate determination of who will be the next prime minister. Opinion polls suggest that Mr. Netanyahu’s allies and rivals are roughly tied, and assembling a governing coalition in Israel’s parliamentary system could take weeks or months.

Opposition leaders led by Mr. Eisenkot have called for a reckoning over what they call Mr. Netanyahu’s failure to prevent the catastrophic Oct. 7 attacks. They also have pledged to repair Israel’s shattered image abroad, including by cracking down on Israeli extremist violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Mr. Netanyahu has resisted the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the Oct. 7 attacks. He has vowed to move ahead with overhauling Israel’s judicial system, a move that critics say could undermine the country’s liberal democracy. And his allies say they hope to permanently entrench Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza despite international condemnation.

The 77-year-old leader has dominated Israeli politics for decades. In recent days, he repeatedly suggested that the country could face annihilation without him in charge.

Here’s what else to watch:

• Key issues: In a tumultuous campaign, several issues divided Israeli voters. Read more ›
• West Bank and Gaza: As Israelis headed to the polls, Palestinians in the West Bank were under an Israeli military lockdown. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza cannot vote in Israeli elections, but they may have much to lose if Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition stays in power. Read more ›
• Poll times: Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party said it had asked the Central Election Committee to extend voting hours nationally beyond 10 p.m., an unheard-of move that election officials are unlikely to grant. Likud’s rivals argued that the highly unusual request was intended to sow doubt about the election’s integrity.
• Election integrity: Mr. Netanyahu used racially charged language to cast suspicion over high turnout among Arab citizens and to encourage his base to go to the polls. Election officials said Tuesday that there had been no indication of widespread irregularities.
• Trump weighs in: President Trump has endorsed Mr. Netanyahu, praising him as an important partner in the war against Iran and saying anyone else would be the “wrong leader” for Israel. Analysts were skeptical that the U.S. president’s intervention would sway many voters.