Polls opened across Israel on Tuesday for a deeply divided general election, the first since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and a test for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s growing shift to the right.<\/p>\n
The latest published opinion polls show Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, tied with his main challenger, the centrist Gadi Eisenkot. A former chief of staff and a newcomer to politics, Eisenkot is seen as calm by temperament, a contrast with the incumbent’s style.<\/p>\n
Three years of regional wars on several fronts followed the October 7 attack. The shock remains vivid, and questions of accountability and security have dominated the campaign.<\/p>\n
Israel heads into the tightly fought contest looking increasingly isolated internationally, over its devastating military campaign in Gaza, accelerating settlement construction and rising violence in the occupied West Bank<\/a>, as well as the growth of hardline religious nationalism on the right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Israelis vote Tuesday in the first Israel election since the October 7, 2023 attack, with final polls showing Netanyahu level with rival Gadi Eisenkot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,89],"tags":[6005],"class_list":["post-8146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","category-a-la-une","tag-gadi-eisenkot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t