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The 2026 Elections
Important terms
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Knesset – Israel’s 120-seat parliament. Voters cast a ballot for a party list rather than an individual candidate, and seats are allocated in proportion to each list’s share of the national vote.
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Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) – Israel’s internal security service. It operates largely in secret and with limited external oversight, which is why its involvement in decisions about political participation raises concerns about transparency and due process.
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Absentee voting – Voting from outside the country. Israel permits it only for a narrow group, mainly diplomats and seamen, so citizens living abroad must travel to Israel and vote at their assigned polling station.
Israelis vote for the 26th Knesset on October 27, 2026 – the first general election since October 7th, and since the judicial overhaul and the politicization of law enforcement placed sustained pressure on Israel’s democratic institutions. The right to elect and to be elected is the foundation of that democracy, and it depends on far more than election day itself.
Free elections require that voters can reach the polls, that parties can register and campaign without interference from the security services, and that citizens can express political views without fear of sanction. Each of these has come under strain: a party has been refused registration on the basis of classified Shin Bet material; officials were reported to be weighing steps that would stop Israelis abroad from flying home to vote, in a country with almost no absentee voting; and some municipalities have barred their employees from political activity.
ACRI is working to protect the rights to elect and to be elected, and fighting against the efforts to interfere with this bedrock democratic process.
