Israel Goes to the Polls: The State of the Race Less Than One Week Out

On November 1, Israel will hold its fifth election since 2019, and polling suggests that neither the diverse “Change Coalition” currently in power nor the Likud-led opposition has a clear path to a sixty-one-seat Knesset majority. Slight changes in voter behavior could swing the results, and the new leadership will set the course on fundamental issues like Israel’s democratic trajectory, the challenge from Iran, and foreign policy opportunities emanating from the Gulf and beyond.

Israeli voters might be forgiven for feeling desensitized by the constant political drama, but they remain motivated by underlying political and social dynamics, alongside recent developments like violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and the maritime deal with Lebanon. In this Virtual Policy Forum, Professor Tamar Hermann, a public opinion expert at the Israel Democracy Institute, and Washington Institute analyst David Makovsky assess current dynamics, the state of the race, and how Israel might look on the morning after.