Israel Heads to Pivotal Election as a Weary, Divided Public Weighs Netanyahu's Future

Israelis go to the polls on Tuesday in an election many of them regard as the most consequential in the country's history. It is the first national vote since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the years of fighting that followed. Voters must decide whether to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of far-right, ultranationalist and religious parties, or to give him a new term. His main rival is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who leads a center-right opposition promising more diplomacy and less extremism.

The stakes are high enough that tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to fly home, because Israel does not permit absentee voting. Shoula Romano-Horing, a lawyer who traveled from Kansas City, Missouri, said she is backing Netanyahu because "we almost could have been destroyed on Oct. 7." Yochai Ben-Haim, who works in renewable energy in California and is returning for just 36 hours, takes the opposite view. He said the government's actions lead people to label Jews as "mass killers" and that its extremist leaders do not represent Israelis.

Interviews with dozens of Israelis in recent weeks suggest a public pulled in several directions. People described themselves as defiant yet exhausted, angry at their enemies and at their own leaders. Author Micah Goodman summed up the tension: Israelis want to be feared and loved, but cannot protect both reputations.

Questions about what led to Oct. 7 are shaping the race. Netanyahu's security chiefs warned throughout 2023, while Israelis protested his plan to weaken the judiciary, that enemies might exploit the turmoil. Palestinian mediator Sufian Abu Zaida said Hamas's leader in Gaza had him pass along a threat of an "earthquake" after secret talks stalled, and that he relayed it to Israeli intelligence. NPR and other outlets have reported that the leader of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt's intelligence chief passed on similar warnings. Netanyahu denies being warned and has never accepted responsibility. Nearly 1,200 people were killed in the attacks and 251 were taken hostage.

Haaretz analyst Amos Harel said Netanyahu sought to shift blame to the security services and the military. Harel also believes the war was prolonged so as to delay demands for a national commission of inquiry, which Netanyahu has blocked. Former officials have made similar allegations about the length of the war, and Netanyahu denies them. A hostage deal took two years. Kati and Meir Zohar, whose 23-year-old daughter Bar was killed at the Nova music festival, said they got no government funding for the memorial and no condolence call from Netanyahu. "We are angry," Kati Zohar said.

Israel's response has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and left most of Gaza destroyed. Israel now faces genocide allegations, and Netanyahu is subject to an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes. Lior, a 34-year-old former sniper unit commander, said he is proud of his service and would face a judge. He is among nearly 19,000 soldiers newly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or related conditions. Nearly 300,000 young veterans were called back as reservists after Oct. 7.

Public sympathy for Gaza is limited. A July 2025 poll found more than 67 percent of Israelis were not very troubled by the suffering there, and an August 2025 poll found more than 60 percent believed no one in Gaza is innocent. Veteran journalist Anat Saragusti said most Israeli outlets have not examined Palestinian reporting from Gaza, fearing audience backlash. Harel said the press was consumed by the hostages and its own pain.

The West Bank is where even some former security officials say matters have gone too far. Settler violence has risen sharply since Oct. 7, and Netanyahu's government has approved a record number of new settlements, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich marking the 104th in July. Retired general Yaakov "Mendy" Or takes former officials to Palestinian villages such as Umm al-Kheir. Ari Shuali, a former senior intelligence official, called what he saw "evil" and said he is both proud and ashamed to be Israeli.

Netanyahu is campaigning on security, pointing to wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran and the killing of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian leaders. He has promised to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities if reelected. Harel argues the endless fighting is deliberate and sustains a constant state of emergency, while Netanyahu calls the conflicts wars of "no choice." Eisenkot, whom Netanyahu appointed military chief a decade ago, recently addressed a crowd in Kiryat Gat, a city near the Gaza border that has historically been a Netanyahu stronghold.