LatestHere’s the latest.Israelis are voting on Tuesday in a national election that many see as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as the most consequential vote in the country’s history.The election is the first since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, upended life in Israel and ignited three years of war.

Voters have a choice between two blocs offering starkly different visions for their country’s future.Mr. Netanyahu is seeking re-election at the helm of a coalition of nationalists and ultra-Orthodox Jews — the most far-right government in Israeli history.

His coalition faces a fractious group of opposition parties loosely led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff whose son was killed in the Gaza war.Both sides are framing the election as a make-or-break moment for the country. Mr.

Netanyahu’s coalition offers the promise of a more religious Israel with an ever-tighter grip over the West Bank and Gaza. His opponents are casting the vote as the last chance to preserve democracy and pull Israel back from the brink of becoming a pariah state under international sanctions.The voting will close at 10 p.m., but the election is unlikely to deliver an immediate verdict on who will be the next prime minister.

Opinion polls suggest that Mr. Netanyahu’s allies and rivals are roughly tied, and assembling a governing coalition in Israel’s parliamentary system could take weeks or months.Opposition leaders led by Mr.

Eisenkot have called for a reckoning over what they call Mr. Netanyahu’s failure to prevent the catastrophic Oct.

7 attacks. They also have pledged to repair Israel’s shattered image abroad, including by cracking down on Israeli extremist violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.Mr.

Netanyahu has resisted the establishment of an independent commission to probe the Oct. 7 attacks.

He has vowed to move ahead with overhauling Israel’s judicial system, a move that critics say could undermine the country’s liberal democracy. And his allies say they will keep tightening Israel’s grip on the West Bank and Gaza despite international condemnation.Mr.

Netanyahu, 77, has dominated the country’s political life for decades — leading Israel for 19 out of the past 30 years. In recent days, he has repeatedly suggested that the country could face annihilation without him in charge.Here’s what else to watch:Palestinians: As Israelis head to the polls, Palestinians in the West Bank are under an Israeli military lockdown.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza cannot vote in Israeli elections, but they may have much to lose if Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition stays in power.

Netanyahu nor his opponents will likely win an easy victory. The possibilities range from a fragile coalition to a minority government to another round of elections.

Netanyahu, praising him as an important partner in the war against Iran and saying anyone else would be the “wrong leader” for Israel. Analysts were skeptical that the U.S. president’s intervention would sway many voters.What to know about the high-stakes election.ImageCampaign billboards featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot this month in Kiryat Malachi, Israel.Credit...Amir Cohen/ReutersIsraelis are heading to the polls on Tuesday to vote in what many say could be one of the most consequential elections in the country’s 78-year history.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the country’s longest-serving leader, his party and his governing coalition have been locked in a tight contest in the country’s first election since the Oct.

7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that ignited Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.Every party creates a ranked list of its candidates, and voters choose a party or slate. The leader of the party with the most votes could become the country’s next prime minister — though it is not automatic — if that candidate can form a government, but the parliamentary system is complicated and involves extensive negotiations.Here’s what to know.What happens on Election Day?Election Day is a public holiday in Israel, with schools, government offices and many public services closed.

In most of the country, polls are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. local time and close at 10 p.m., with hours slightly reduced in some small communities, hospitals and prisons.Voters are assigned to a polling station near their registered residence and may vote only at that location. There are exceptions for soldiers, people with limited mobility and prisoners, among others.All Israeli citizens 18 or older who are registered to vote may do so with a valid identification, such as a passport, driver’s license or Israeli identification card.

Israel’s Arab citizens, who make up about 20 percent of the population, could play a significant role in the vote, depending on turnout.Unlike many democracies, Israel does not have a postal or proxy voting system, and most citizens cannot cast an absentee vote from abroad.What’s on the ballot?Israel’s electoral system uses nationwide proportional representation. Elections to the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat Parliament, are held at least every four years, though they can happen more often.

In 2022, Israeli elections were held for the fifth time in three years after the Knesset dissolved itself.Israelis cast a single ballot for a list of candidates affiliated with a party. A party receives a number of seats proportional to the national vote it got.

To gain a place in Parliament, however, a party or must receive at least 3.25 percent of the valid votes. About 10 parties are expected to clear that electoral threshold.Official election results are expected by Nov.

4.How is a government formed?No single party has ever won a majority of votes, which means parties must form factions and party leaders try to forge a governing coalition of at least 61 lawmakers.Within seven days of the official election results being announced, Israel’s president, who plays a mostly symbolic role, meets with elected representatives of the parliamentary factions.Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, will assign a member of the Knesset — usually the leader of the party or faction that has won the most seats — to form a government. That candidate then has 28 days to negotiate with other factions and forge alliances to form a government, which must be approved by the Knesset in a vote of confidence.

That person can request a 14-day extension to the deadline.If that effort fails, the president can select another candidate who also has 28 days to try to form a government. If that second attempt fails, a majority of Knesset members can ask the president to have a third candidate try.

That person would be granted 14 days to form a government, and if that failed, new elections would be announcedIf a candidate who has been selected to form a government can propose one, along with a policy agenda, and their proposal wins a plurality of votes in the Knesset, the government is formally invested, and that candidate becomes the prime minister. Technically, the law allows for a minority government if the relative majority supporting it is larger than the minority opposing, but governments established after elections have almost always enjoyed the confidence of a majority of Knesset members, at least 61.Historically, it has taken about 20 to 100 days to form a government, and no government has been sworn in less than 50 days after an election, according to the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Israel.Who are the top contenders?Different polls in the week ahead of the election have suggested different outcomes, which is “very problematic for political scientists,” said Assaf Shapira, who heads political research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Israel.Many Israelis consider this election to be a referendum on Mr.

Netanyahu’s leadership. Mr.

Netanyahu and his Likud party, and their hard-right allies, are in a close race with Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who heads the opposition coalition led by the Yashar party and has emerged as Mr. Netanyahu’s top challenger.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTHere’s who’s running in the election.ImageA campaign event in Jerusalem last month for the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Credit...Ronen Zvulun/ReutersIsrael’s political parties have finalized their candidate slates ahead of a general election on Oct.

27, which many Israelis and outside observers consider to be the most consequential vote in the country’s history.The campaign so far has been dominated by a battle between Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s polarizing prime minister, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who leads the largest opposition party. Polls show that neither man’s bloc has yet gained the support of a decisive majority of voters, and there is no guarantee that either of them will be the next prime minister.The result is an unpredictable race, with profound implications for Israelis and the millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, as well as for the country’s regional conflicts, its international relations and the Jewish diaspora.About a dozen parties are expected to clear the electoral threshold to make it into Israel’s 120-seat Parliament, the Knesset.

The real political wrangling begins after the election, when party leaders will try to forge a governing coalition of at least 61 lawmakers.The leading contendersLikud (Consolidation)Historically the largest conservative party; increasingly populist.Leader: Benjamin Netanyahu, 77.ImageMr. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.Credit...Pool photo by Ohad ZwigenbergMany consider this election a referendum on Mr.

Netanyahu, who as prime minister has not delivered on his promise to achieve “total victory” in Israel’s wars and has not accepted responsibility for security failures preceding the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the deadliest day in the country’s history.

He has also faced blowback over a deeply unpopular military draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews and a divisive push for judicial reforms, which would in part reduce the Supreme Court’s powers.A right-wing party with strong support in working-class and traditional Jewish communities, Likud has governed Israel for more than 34 out of the past 49 years, including 19 under Mr. Netanyahu.Mr.

Netanyahu, who faces corruption charges and an international arrest warrant in connection with the conduct of the Gaza war, has vowed to “complete the job” in waging Israel’s various conflicts and block the formation of a Palestinian state.Yashar! (Honest, or Straight)New party aimed at centrists and center-right voters worried about where the Netanyahu coalition is leading Israel.Leader: Gadi Eisenkot, 66.ImageGadi Eisenkot is a former military chief of staff.Credit...Erik Marmor/Getty ImagesA former military chief of staff, Mr. Eisenkot served in Mr.

Netanyahu’s war cabinet for part of the Gaza war, in which one of Mr. Eisenkot’s sons and two nephews were killed.

He formed his party a year ago and has emerged as Mr. Netanyahu’s top challenger.

His platform strikes at Mr. Netanyahu’s vulnerabilities, including by endorsing calls to investigate the failures preceding the Oct.

7 attack.Mr. Eisenkot has rejected the prospect of Palestinian statehood in the near term.

He has also voiced support for a more restrained expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank while promising to curb settler violence.Other major opposition partiesB’Yachad (Together)A partnership between the centrist, secular and liberal Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) party and Naftali Bennett, a right-wing nationalist.Leader: Naftali Bennett, 54.ImageNaftali Bennett is a right-wing former prime minister.Credit...Ilia Yefimovich/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn 2021, Mr. Bennett and Yair Lapid, 62, the leader of Yesh Atid, allied to oust Mr.

Netanyahu in a short-lived government. This year, they have sought to lead an anti-Netanyahu front again, emphasizing unity amid Israel’s bitter divisions.

They have called for an expanded draft of the ultra-Orthodox and an inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack.Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home)A secular Jewish party that is right-wing on security matters but broke with Mr.

Netanyahu years ago.Leader: Avigdor Liberman, 68.ImageAvigdor Liberman, shown in 2021, is a former foreign minister and defense minister.Credit...Emmanuel Dunand/ReutersFounded in 1999 as a political home for immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the party has since expanded its appeal by promising to defend Israel’s secular Jewish character against the rising influence of ultra-Orthodox rabbis.The DemocratsHeir to two parties from Israel’s dwindling political left, which once dominated the country.Leader: Yair Golan, 64.Mr. Golan, an outspoken former two-star general, formed the Democrats in 2024 out of the remnants of the storied Israeli Labor party and the more left-wing Meretz party.

It favors a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while seeking to forge Israel’s identity as a liberal, secular Jewish state.Other major pro-Netanyahu partiesOtzma Yehudit (Jewish Power)A far-right, ultranationalist, anti-Arab party.Leader: Itamar Ben-Gvir, 50.ImageItamar Ben-Gvir early this month.Credit...Amir Levy/Getty ImagesMr. Ben-Gvir, a right-wing provocateur, made his name as a lawyer defending Israeli settlers arrested for attacking Palestinians.

His support appears to have grown amid a shift to the right among Jewish Israelis since the Oct. 7 attack.

He has called for the removal from Gaza of Palestinians through “voluntary emigration.” Mr. Ben-Gvir has drawn international condemnation and sanctions for his anti-Arab rhetoric and conduct as national security minister in Mr.

Netanyahu’s government.Religious ZionismA far-right, ultranationalist party with a focus on expanding Israeli settlement of the West Bank.Leader: Bezalel Smotrich, 46.ImageFinance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this month.Credit...Erik Marmor/Getty ImagesAs finance minister and a minister in charge of the administration of the West Bank, Mr. Smotrich has masterminded the steady advancement of Israel’s de facto annexation of the territory by expanding settlements, building roads for Israelis and crippling the Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the West Bank.

He has repeatedly said that Israel should permanently occupy and resettle the Gaza Strip with Jews.Amcha Yisrael (People of Israel)A right-wing party that supports Mr. Netanyahu but opposes a draft exemption for the ultra-Orthodox.Leader: Ofer Winter, 55.Mr.

Winter, a former brigadier general who formed the party in August, gained prominence for his hawkish national security views. He has spoken of encouraging the voluntary emigration of Palestinians from Gaza.ShasTraditional political home for ultra-Orthodox Jews whose families came to Israel from the Middle East and North Africa.Leader: Aryeh Deri, 67.Mr.

Deri, a veteran political operator, spent time in prison for bribery and fraud, and was later convicted of tax fraud and barred from serving as a government minister. Shas’s following extends beyond ultra-Orthodox Jews to others who are less religious but whose roots are likewise in the Middle East and North Africa.United Torah JudaismAn alliance of two parties representing different streams of ultra-Orthodox Judaism with roots in Eastern Europe.Leader: Yaakov Asher, 61.U.T.J.’s politics center on protecting the ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, community’s strict religious way of life.

It has long been allied with Mr. Netanyahu, whose governments have supported U.T.J.’s voters with subsidies.

But the partnership has grown increasingly shaky.The Arab partiesRaam (United Arab List)An Islamist party that increasingly advocates coexistence between Arabs and Jews.Leader: Mansour Abbas, 52.ImageMansour Abbas is leader of the United Arab List.Credit...Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMr. Abbas has taken a pragmatic approach to Arabs’ participation in Israeli politics, and in 2021, he made history by joining an Israeli governing coalition.

In August, he recruited a Zionist former senior police commander as Raam’s No. 2 candidate.

If Jewish opposition parties drop their resistance to joining a coalition with an Arab party, Mr. Abbas could be crucial to ousting Mr.

Netanyahu.The Joint ListAn alliance of three parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.Leader: Yousef Jabareen, 54.The Joint List’s component parties represent a range of ideologies, including a Jewish-Arab communist alliance and a Palestinian nationalist party. Their goal in uniting is to bring more Arab voters to the ballot box, expanding their representation in Parliament.