Netanyahu faces election test amid security and domestic issues in Israel

Israelis voted on Tuesday in the country’s first national election since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership and national security at the center of a deeply divisive campaign.

The election is widely viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu’s handling of the security failures surrounding the attack and the subsequent wars, as well as his government’s domestic policies including the cost of living, military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews, and a controversial judicial overhaul.

Despite the ongoing conflict, Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza and military operations have received relatively little debate during the campaign. Both major political blocs broadly support Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.

For many voters, the election also represents an opportunity to address divisions within Israeli society and determine the country’s future direction. Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and centrist challenger, has pledged to investigate the failures of the October 7 attack and restore Israel’s international standing.

Eisenkot, who lost family members in the Gaza conflict, resigned from Netanyahu’s war cabinet citing a lack of clear strategy and has positioned himself as a moderate alternative while maintaining a hawkish security stance. If successful, he could become Israel’s first prime minister of Mizrahi descent, representing a historically marginalized community.

Some voters, like Shimon Elmaliah of Sderot, support Eisenkot for his promise to unite a divided society, while others continue to back Netanyahu as the strongest leader amid ongoing security challenges.