Israel's High-Stakes Election Enters Final Week with Netanyahu Under Pressure and Opposition United

Israel's 27 October 2026 legislative election, the first since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 triggered a series of wars that reshaped the Middle East, entered its final week on 21 October with the political landscape shifting rapidly. Opposition leader Yair Lapid leads a five-party unity pact — signed with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan of the Democrats, and Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beiteinu — designed to present a united front against incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud. Benny Gantz's Blue and White party withdrew from the race entirely, consolidating the opposition field further. On the right, President Donald Trump issued a strong endorsement of Netanyahu on Truth Social, though polls suggest Trump's standing in Israel has sharply declined this year. Netanyahu is running on a security-first platform, arguing that he alone can manage the multiple threats Israel faces following wars with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Critics have attacked his record on the October 7 failures and the protracted hostage crisis. Polling shows the race extremely close, with neither the Netanyahu bloc nor the opposition coalition certain of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.