Israel's Knesset announced elections for October 27, allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to complete its full four-year term.
5:36 PM
Israel will hold parliamentary elections on October 27, the Knesset announced Sunday. The date, set by law, will allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government to complete a full four-year term without early dissolution.
Ofir Katz, spokesman for the governing coalition and a Likud party deputy, announced the election date during a Knesset debate on party financing legislation. Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik confirmed that the current parliament "will complete its full term and will not be dissolved," with the election date remaining as established by law.
If the elections proceed as scheduled, they will mark the first time Israel has held parliamentary elections on the originally set date since 1988. All parliaments elected since then have been dissolved early. The current Knesset is set to hold its final session on Friday, after which the official election period will begin.
Under Israeli law, Knesset elections are held every four years. The Central Elections Committee had set October 27, 2026, as the election date in April 2023, contingent on the parliament not being dissolved ahead of schedule. The current parliament, like many previous ones, had been expected to be dissolved early, but the coalition chose to allow it to complete its mandate.
Netanyahu's far-right coalition government will be the first in more than 50 years to serve a complete four-year term. The elections will be the first held in Israel since the Hamas attack in October 2023 and the subsequent conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, and against Iran.
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