Israeli parties submit candidate lists for the October 27 Knesset election

The field enters formal review

Israeli political parties have submitted their candidate lists for the October 27 Knesset election, completing a procedural deadline that turns months of positioning into a defined contest. Al Jazeera reported that 38 lists were delivered to the Central Elections Committee before the September 8 cutoff. The committee is expected to review eligibility and finalise the approved field by September 27. Submission therefore does not guarantee that every list or candidate will appear unchanged on the ballot.

Among the late submissions were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party and the Joint List alliance of parties representing predominantly Palestinian citizens of Israel. Likud’s slate is headed by Netanyahu, followed by Energy Minister Eli Cohen, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The ordering matters because Israel elects members from party lists rather than choosing individual constituency representatives.

A national proportional contest

Official Israeli voter guidance describes Knesset elections as a national process administered by the Central Elections Committee, while the Basic Law establishes general, direct, equal, secret and proportional voting. Seats in the 120-member chamber are allocated to lists that clear the electoral threshold. That system usually makes coalition negotiations decisive: leading the vote does not by itself give a party the 61 seats needed to control parliament.

The main opposition challenge comes from Yashar, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. The available reporting says surveys place it ahead of Likud, but no single list appears close to a majority. Polling should be treated as a snapshot rather than an election result, particularly before the committee completes its review and voters see the final ballot. Smaller religious, nationalist, centrist and Arab-majority parties may determine which leader can assemble a governing coalition.

The campaign takes place amid arguments over the government’s conduct of regional wars, relations with foreign partners, judicial power, military-service exemptions and the integrity of public institutions. Those disputes shape possible coalition combinations as much as the headline contest between Netanyahu and Eisenkot. Candidate-list approval may also clarify whether fragmented parties have formed alliances capable of clearing the threshold.

What comes next

The Central Elections Committee’s September review is the immediate institutional checkpoint. Parties may face challenges to candidates or list eligibility before approval. After that, attention will move to withdrawals, campaign agreements and polling on bloc strength rather than individual party rankings alone. Election night will determine the allocation of seats, but the choice of government may take longer: the decisive phase is likely to be negotiations over which candidate can command a parliamentary majority.