Israel votes in first election since October 7 attack as Netanyahu faces crucial test

A deeply divided Israel will head to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, with voters delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's rightward drift. Israelis will cast their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by October 7, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign. The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism. The last polls to be published showed Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, running neck and neck with his main centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot, a political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to dis...