Israel's legislative election, scheduled for October 27, is being framed by analysts, sociologists and pollsters as a contest centered on domestic political concerns — including the future of judicial oversight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal standing, and the exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service — rather than on Israeli-Palestinian relations, according to observers interviewed by Al Jazeera.
Israeli election on October 27 to center on Netanyahu, judiciary and Haredi conscription
Israel's legislative election, scheduled for October 27, is being framed by analysts, sociologists and pollsters as a contest centered on domestic political concerns — including the future of judicial oversight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal standing, and the exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service — rather than on Israeli-Palestinian relations, according to observers interviewed by Al Jazeera.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led raids, in which 1,139 people were killed, continue to shape Israeli political debate. A Hamas-led attack that day and an Israeli military counteroffensive followed, with 73,387 Palestinians killed in Gaza since then, according to figures cited in the source. Calls for an official inquiry into how the attack occurred — and specifically Netanyahu's role — have grown, but Netanyahu has repeatedly cited ongoing wars as grounds to delay such an inquiry, and has also sought to use the conflicts to defer his corruption trials.
The 2023 judicial overhaul, which sought to reduce the power of the courts over the government, remains a central point of contention. Critics describe it as an assault on state institutions. Netanyahu's government has also placed loyalists in senior positions across security services, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stated he will make dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara — the official responsible for policing the legality of the coalition's conduct — a condition of joining any future government coalition.
The ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community's refusal to serve in the military has become a major political fault line. Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism are expected to focus on resisting conscription. Their leaders frame full-time Torah study as a form of 'spiritual protection' for the Jewish people. In June, thousands of Haredi men blocked roads in Jerusalem to protest conscription efforts. Yair Golan, a former reserve major general and chairman of the Democrats party, allegedly called Haredi men 'parasites' who 'live off the rest of Israeli society,' according to a leaked recording cited in the source.
Most mainstream Jewish parties have ruled out forming a governing coalition with Arab parties. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described such a prospect as 'worse' than the October 7 attack. The alliance of former Prime Ministers Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett — whose 2021 government included the Arab Ra'am party — has not committed to including parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel in a future coalition. So far in 2026, 158 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed, according to the source.
- The source does not state current polling figures or seat projections for any party or coalition.
- The source does not state the specific corruption charges Netanyahu faces in his ongoing trials.
- The source does not establish what share of Palestinian citizens of Israel are eligible to vote or what factors restrict that eligibility beyond a brief reference to those 'who are allowed to vote.'
- The source does not provide Netanyahu's direct response to the allegations or criticisms made against him in the article.
- The source does not state the current electoral threshold or the number of parties expected to contest the October 27 election.
- The source does not identify which Arab parties might seek inclusion in a coalition or what positions they hold on the issues discussed.
Read the original at Al Jazeera English