JERUSALEM (AP) — Three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, Israeli voters will decide next Tuesday whether to grant Benjamin Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister – or usher in a new era of Israeli politics.
Polls suggest a tight race between Netanyahu, leader of the nationalist Likud party, and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkotwho leads the centrist Yashar!, for control of the government.
Israelis vote for partieswho then form alliances to create a majority coalition. No party has ever won a majority in Parliament, or in the 120-member Knesset.
Here’s a look at some of the major parties’ most important leaders ahead of the election:
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister
Netanyahu, 77, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and the most dominant force in Israeli politics, having persevered through wars, crises, scandals and Attack of October 7, 2023 – the deadliest in Israeli history. He is the longtime leader of the Likud party, and his supporters point to his record on security and the economy, as well as his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, who Netanyahu argued.
Netanyahu’s opponents say he is responsible for the political and security failures that preceded the October 7, 2023 attack and accuse him of mishandling the wars that followed. In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is also embroiled in a years-long legal scandal in his country, having been accused of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.
Gadi Eisenkot, former military chief of staff
Eisenkot, 66, comes from a working-class family of Moroccan Jewish immigrants. He spent four decades rising through the ranks of the Israeli military, eventually becoming chief of staff. The general currently leads the largest opposition party – the centrist Yashar! – after entering politics in 2022. His son and two nephews were killed in combat in Gaza following the October 7 attacks.
Eisenkot also served as an observer Netanyahu’s war cabinetbut resigned after eight months, after accusing the Prime Minister of lacking a clear strategy. He has since positioned himself as a moderate alternative to Netanyahu, but remains hawkish on security. Eisenkot is credited with formulating Israel’s “Dahiyeh doctrine,” a military strategy calling for the use of disproportionate power in areas from which militants launch attacks.
If he manages to form a coalition, Eisenkot could become Israel’s first prime minister of Mizrahi origin. Israel’s Mizrahim, originally from North Africa and the Middle East, have historically faced discrimination from the country’s elite of European descent.
Naftali Bennett, former Prime Minister
Bennett, 54, is the right-wing and religious leader of Beyachad (Together), a joint group with centrist politician Yair Lapid. He opposes Palestinian independence and supports settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Before entering the Knesset in 2013, Bennett served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff and also headed the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization for local authorities within Israeli settlements. His conservative Yamina party won seven seats, helping it build a coalition of left-wing and Arab parties. He then briefly served as prime minister in 2021, the result of a power-sharing deal, also with Lapid.
While Bennett, like Netanyahu, takes a hard line on the Palestinians, the two men have deep disagreements over Netanyahu’s handling of security issues and his battle with the Israeli legal system.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security
Ben-Gvir, 50, is Israel’s national security minister and a far-right provocateur with multiple convictions, including for supporting a terrorist organization. He leads Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), an ultra-nationalist party whose strong performance in the last election secured his Cabinet post and helped push Netanyahu’s coalition further to the right.
He is a trained lawyer who made his name by successfully defending right-wing Jewish extremists accused of violence against Palestinians. When Ben-Gvir was a teenager, the army refused to enlist him because of his extreme views. He was also a disciple of Meir Kahanethe violently racist rabbi who advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
Ben-Gvir also outlined plans for what he said would be the “voluntary” emigration of around 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, where he advocated for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements.
Mansour Abbas, Knesset member and Raam leader
Abbas, 52, is a Palestinian Arab politician and dentist from northern Israel. He leads Raam, an Islamist party that was the first Arab-led party to join a governing coalition in 2021.
Its strategy has been to focus on more local issues, such as crime in Arab communitiesrather than the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the hope that it will allow Ra’am to win more Knesset seats and woo potential coalition partners.
As part of this campaign, Abbas named former police commander and centrist Jewish politician Yoav Segalovitz as candidate number two on Raam’s electoral list. Abbas has served in the Knesset since 2019.
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