TEL AVIV — Israelis will cast ballots in a general election on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in a vote many citizens describe as the most critical in the nation's history. The election marks the first time Israelis return to the polls after years of conflict, including the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that killed roughly 1,200 people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leading a coalition of far-right, ultranationalist and religious political parties, seeks reelection. His main challenger is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who heads a center-right opposition advocating increased diplomacy and restraint.
Netanyahu's supporters view the election as a referendum on national security. Shoula Romano-Horing, an Israeli lawyer who traveled from Kansas City, Missouri, to vote, said she is supporting Netanyahu to ensure Israel is "secure and safe" after Oct. 7, 2023, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Many Israelis are distressed by international condemnation of Netanyahu's government over its wartime actions. Yochai Ben-Haim, a renewable energy professional based in California, flew home to Israel for 36 hours solely to vote against the current leadership. Ben-Haim said the government's actions cause Israelis and Jews to be characterized as "mass killers" and called the current administration "led by extremists that do not represent who we are."
Conversations with dozens of Israelis in recent weeks reveal a populace both defiant and exhausted after three years of conflict. Citizens express frustration at both their enemies and their own leaders.
Israeli society grapples with internal contradictions. Many remain unmoved by Palestinian suffering, yet are traumatized by the war's consequences. They resist Palestinian independence but oppose Israeli settlers displacing Palestinians from their land.
The public is fatigued by global criticism of the Gaza war while simultaneously fearing growing international isolation. Israeli author Micah Goodman said: "Israelis want to be feared and to be loved. The problem is that you have two reputations you need to protect, but you can't."
Israel does not permit absentee voting, leading tens of thousands of expatriates to return to the country specifically to cast their ballots.
