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Israel election: Netanyahu faces Gadi Eisenkot on Oct 27

politicsOct 26, 202616472

Israel votes on October 27 in a high-stakes contest between incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition front-runner Gadi Eisenkot, a former top general. The campaign is dominated by domestic issues: Netanyahu’s 2022 coalition pushed through measures curbing judicial oversight, including changes to judicial appointments and a July law that strips Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of many powers; most opposition parties promise to reverse those measures if they win. Conscription of ultra-Orthodox Haredi youth is a flashpoint: Netanyahu relies on Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, which demand legal protection from conscription and seek to overturn a June 25, 2024 Supreme Court ruling. On security, leading candidates broadly support the wars following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and do not offer a clear path back to the two-state framework; critics say current policy enables settler violence and continued settlement expansion, including the E1 plan. Opposition reporting and social posts name Eisenkot accusing Netanyahu of fearmongering, and Haaretz reported a far-right WhatsApp group discussed attacking security guards protecting Eisenkot and other opposition figures. The election will determine whether laws curbing the courts take effect after the vote or are rolled back by a new government, and could yield a narrow result including the possibility of a Gadi Eisenkot minority government.

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