Israel to hold national elections on October 27, parliament says

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has confirmed that he will run for office again.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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Netanyahu says his ties with Trump are ‘fine’, takes aim at Turkiyelist 2 of 3Netanyahu’s Christian comments ‘aimed at sowing strife’: Lebanese analystslist 3 of 3Republican Lindsey Graham dies at 71: World leaders, US politicians reactend of list“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 competitionFormer 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.