Israel Elections

Editor's Notes: What this newspaper will ask of every party until Election Day

A full Knesset term, the first in nearly four decades, is a real institutional achievement in a region where governments rarely die of old age. But the Temple was magnificent on its last morning too.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi are seen in the Knesset plenum during a vote on the minister's communications reform, in Jerusalem, July 16, 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a vote at the plenum hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on July 16, 2026.

Bill to dissolve Knesset passes unanimously, officially beginning election recess

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara Netanyahu, and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu attend a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center in northern Jerusalem, July 5, 2026.

Chaos within Likud: Primary battle deepens as party court questions leadership's conduct - analysis

 A voting box in the last Israeli election in 2015

Thinking about the Basic Law: Torah Study - opinion


Isolation of Israel is growing, solutions are naive in light of current government - opinion

What Israel needs in order to reverse its growing isolation is a basic change of mindset, which can only result from a change of government in Jerusalem.

 TRUCKS LINE UP near the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. It cannot be denied that the absence of an effective administrative mechanism to manage the distribution of humanitarian aid is strongly felt, says the writer.

When Schumer became his brothers’ reaper - opinion

The worst part of the speech was not what made headlines. It was when Schumer threatened his brothers in Israel in a way no true guardian ever would.

US SENATE Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, last week.

Sa'ar-Gantz party split – here are the winners and losers

While Netanyahu thus received a lifeline for the short-term, political energy is now at a new level and public pressure for an election is likely to increase.

 Gideon Sa'ar & Benny Gantz

Ehud Barak to Foreign Affairs: Israel has a leadership vacuum

Former prime minister, Ehud Barak, explains Netanyahu's failures since the beginning of the war and calls both the voters and Lapid, Gantz, and Eisenkot to call for early elections.

 Ehud Barak addresses a protest against the government.

Israel's Left needs to unify like their right-wing counterparts - comment

Ultimately, however, if there is anything to be taken away from the municipal elections this week, it is that the Left needs to learn the strategy of unity if they wish to succeed.

 REELECTED JERUSALEM Mayor Moshe Lion celebrates victory, early Wednesday morning. Whether it be Jerusalem, Netanya, Ra’anana, Bat Yam, Holon, Ashdod, Tiberias, Safed, Arad, Elad, or many more, right-wing parties enjoyed a sweeping win across the country, the writer notes.

For the first time in Israel, a transgender woman was elected as a city council member

Weinberg, 65, will be serving as a city council member in the town of Kiryat Tivon, southeast of Haifa. She is a mother of two and also a grandmother.

 The Ruth lookout in Kiryat Tivon.

Best activities for the day of the elections for the local authorities

Woodwork in Golan, paintball in Ma'ale Adumim, support at Dizengoff Center, Ben-Gurion barracks visit, plus post-vote entertainment recommendations.

 Ben Gurion Barracks

Elections for local authorities: all the activities that await you

Experience nature trips, visits to national parks, and workshops as you spend local election day with the whole family from north to south.

 Tel Amal Wall and Tower

Israel Politics: Polls remain steady, leaving Smotrich out of Knesset

The poll shows that this week there were slight deviations of one seat among some of the parties, but no change between the blocs.

 A man casts his vote in the Israeli general elections, at a polling station in Jerusalem, on November 1, 2022.

Municipal Elections – a Basic Guide

Elections for local authorities, first scheduled for October 31, were postponed twice due to the October 7 massacre and subsequent nation-wide draft of hundreds of thousands of reservists.

 A man casts his vote in the Israeli general elections, at a polling station in Jerusalem, on November 1, 2022.