Israel sets October 27 election date, seen as referendum on Netanyahu

National elections will be held in Israel on October 27, the latest date legally allowed, with the vote widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza.

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, announced the election date on Sunday. The Knesset is set to hold the final session of its current term on Friday, making Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government the first in half a century to complete a full four-year term.

“Since the current Knesset is expected to serve its full term and the next general election is already set by law for October 27, with no intention of shortening the legislature’s tenure, there is no need to enact a Knesset Dissolution Law in the usual sense,” parliament said in a statement.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, confirmed in June that he would run in the upcoming elections. The 76-year-old has faced mounting criticism since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023 — the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. Critics blame Netanyahu for a series of security failures that allowed armed groups from Gaza to breach Israel’s advanced border defences and take 251 people hostage.

Political competition

Former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as Netanyahu’s main rival. According to a poll published on Thursday by Channel 13, an Israeli news outlet, Eisenkot’s Yashar party is narrowly ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud.

Eisenkot previously served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, resigning in June 2024 after saying that the government “had completely failed” to achieve any of its objectives in Gaza. His son was killed during the beginning of Israel’s war on the enclave in December 2023.

The government is seeking to pass several laws before parliament enters recess on Friday. Netanyahu hopes that the legislation will strengthen his electoral prospects.

Among the proposals are legislation to reform the judiciary and a bill to suspend the detention of ultra-Orthodox Jews who evade mandatory military service.

Netanyahu’s opponents also cite his handling of the war as evidence that he is no longer fit to hold office. Almost three years into Israel’s assault on Gaza, Hamas has not been destroyed as promised, while Israel stands accused of genocide by several of the world’s leading human rights organisations.

Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Critics accuse him of using his position as prime minister to evade justice.

Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, a think tank in London, told Al Jazeera that October’s election will be the most consequential in Israel’s history.

“Between the domestic and international challenges, the last three-and-a-half years have been very busy and usually for the wrong reasons,” Mekelberg said.

“From Gaza to the occupied West Bank, Iran and Lebanon, these issues have not been resolved. Israel’s relations with the rest of the world, including the United States, have been damaged. Every day, the government is introducing legislation that fatally undermines the democratic foundations of the state of Israel,” he said.

“This will be the most consequential election in my view since the founding of Israel in 1948, and it will also be the most toxic.”