Israeli Politics 

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Latest news on Israeli politics, providing comprehensive coverage of the Knesset, the Israel election and election results, coalition talks, the Israeli government and opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud, Gadi Eisenkot and Yashar, Yesh Atid, Shas, United Torah Judaism and other Israeli parties.

Israel (Yisra'el in Hebrew) is a parliamentary democracy with a 120-seat Knesset, elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. Parties must win 3.25% of valid votes to enter parliament, and no party has won a majority alone. Governments are therefore coalitions of at least 61 members, so Israel politics is defined by bargaining between large and small parties. The largely ceremonial president, based at Beit HaNassi in Jerusalem, invites a party leader to try to form a government.

Israeli politics has often been turbulent. Five elections in under four years, between 2019 and 2022, showed how hard it can be to assemble a stable coalition. Later disputes include the 2023 judicial overhaul and the mass protests it triggered, and the debate over military service for ultra-Orthodox Haredi men. Hard-right figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) and Bezalel Smotrich shape coalition bargaining, while the opposition, including Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Benny Gantz and Eisenkot, whose Yashar list challenges Netanyahu, argues for change.

Security shapes almost every political debate. The war in Gaza that followed the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, relations with Iran and Lebanon, and the status of the West Bank, including Hebron and Ramallah, feature in every campaign. The Golan Heights and the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict remain contested. Jerusalem, known in Arabic as Al-Quds, and its holy sites, including the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque, are among the most sensitive issues, and intelligence and military chiefs, including the Mossad, often feature in political rows.

Israeli society is diverse, and its parties reflect that. Secular and religious Zionist voters, ultra-Orthodox communities backing Shas, United Torah Judaism, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, and Arab citizens, roughly a fifth of the population, who vote for lists such as Ra'am, Hadash, Ta'al, Hadash-Ta'al and the United Arab List, all shape results. Campaigns play out in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, Rishon LeZion and Petah Tikva as much as in Jerusalem. Turnout, protest movements and the experiences of families affected by war are central to the human story.

Israel declared independence in 1948 and has no single written constitution, relying instead on Basic Laws passed by the Knesset. The Labor Party (HaAvoda) and its predecessors dominated the early decades until Likud first took power in 1977. Since then, coalitions have been built around Likud, Labor, centrist alliances such as Israel Resilience Party, New Hope and National Unity, and sectoral parties including Mafdal, Gimel, Yisrael Beiteinu and Noam. Netanyahu has become the country's longest-serving prime minister.

Our NewsNow feed on Israeli politics brings together the latest headlines on Knesset elections, election results, coalition talks, party leaders and the Israeli government from reliable sources worldwide. Whether you follow Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Lapid or Bennett, or want the wider context in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, it keeps you informed as events develop.