JERUSALEM, 27 October 2026 — Israelis voted on Tuesday in their first national election since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, with turnout running at the highest levels ever recorded, a day after a United Nations-mandated inquiry accused Israel of committing the crime against humanity of “extermination” in the occupied West Bank.
More than 7.3 million voters were eligible to choose the 120 members of the Knesset at polling stations open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. By 6:43 p.m., turnout had reached 66.7 per cent, according to the Central Elections Committee, after earlier records of 55.7 per cent by 4 p.m. and 44.9 per cent by 2 p.m.
A referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership
The election is widely seen as a verdict on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 77, Israel’s longest-serving leader, who is seeking another term. His main challenger is former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the centrist Yashar party. Final polls put Netanyahu’s bloc on around 50 seats and the opposition on 52 to 56, with neither reaching the 61 seats needed for a majority, reports said — pointing to a hung parliament and weeks of coalition bargaining.
Netanyahu voted in Jerusalem alongside his wife Sara and urged supporters to turn out, warning in a video message that Arab voters in the south were “racing to the ballots”. He also pointed to reports that three people had been arrested carrying envelopes of money on suspicion of attempting to bribe voters.
UN inquiry’s West Bank findings
The vote came a day after the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli authorities and forces had committed crimes against humanity in the West Bank, including extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as persecution on grounds including nationality, race and ethnicity. The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, does not speak for the United Nations itself.
It said military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence amounted to a “widespread and systematic attack” on Palestinian civilians in the territory, occupied by Israel since 1967, and that operations since January 2025 had caused the largest displacement there since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians displaced by August 2026.
It recorded 254 West Bank airstrike deaths since October 2023, against six in the previous 15 years. Its chair, Srinivasan Muralidhar, said the killing and wounding of civilians and the destruction of homes, combined with what he called Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility, formed part of “a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unlivable”. The commission also upheld its earlier finding that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza despite last year’s ceasefire. Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the report, describing it as a “misinformation campaign” and calling for the commission to be dissolved.
What happens next
Television channels were due to publish exit polls as soon as voting closed at 10 p.m., with the first counted ballots expected overnight. The final tally is expected by 30 October and official results published on 4 November. President Isaac Herzog will then ask the member judged most likely to build a coalition to try to form a government, a process that can take up to 42 days. If no candidate can assemble 61 seats, Israel could face another election.
