Israel's 2026 election: where to vote, what to bring, who is running
Shukshuk team · Updated October 2026
Israel's 26th Knesset election is on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. Most polling stations are open from 07:00 to 22:00, and in small communities from 08:00 to 20:00. You can vote only at the station where you are registered, by your address in the population registry, with a photo ID. To find your station, send a WhatsApp or SMS to 053-3801464. Below: the practical details, and every one of the 37 running lists as the Central Elections Committee published them, with no recommendation for any of them.
In short: when, who and where
When: Tuesday 27.10.2026. Polling stations are open from 07:00 to 22:00. In communities with fewer than 350 eligible voters, and at stations in hospitals and prisons: 08:00 to 20:00. Anyone inside the station at closing time may still vote. Who votes: an Israeli citizen whose 18th birthday falls no later than election day and who is registered as a resident in the population registry. The voter register closed on 3.9.2026, and the address registered then decides your station. In numbers: 7,331,981 eligible voters and 12,018 regular polling stations across the country, per the Central Elections Committee.
How to find your polling station
Fastest: send a WhatsApp or SMS to 053-3801464 with your ID number and date of birth (as xx/xx/xxxx). It works 24 hours a day. By phone: 1-800-101975 or 073-2458358, in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Amharic and English. Until 26.10 the line is open until 23:00, and on election day from 06:30 to 22:00. Online: the Interior Ministry's polling-station lookup (link below), with your ID number and date of birth. The voter notice: mailed about three weeks before the election to your registered address, with the station's address and number, your serial number and whether the station is accessible. You do not need to bring it to vote.
What to bring
You identify yourself to the station committee with one of these only: - Identity card (teudat zehut) - A valid driving licence - A valid passport - A valid personal IDF military ID - A police ID (only when voting outside your area of residence) - A Knesset member ID (outgoing Knesset) An ID card missing its photo or its name page is not accepted. An ID card without a photo is accepted only if stamped "by permit of the Interior Minister". The voter notice is not needed.
Accessible stations and helpers
Of the 12,018 stations, 6,208 are accessible, and 3,620 of those are "special accessible" stations. A voter with limited mobility whose own station is not accessible may vote at any special accessible station. Without a certificate of the disability, or if it is not visible, you sign a declaration before the station secretary (a false declaration is an offence), and the vote goes in a double envelope. How to find one: on the Elections Committee's polling map, a purple marker shows a site with at least one special accessible station. The voter notice also says whether your own station is accessible. Other adjustments: any service animal may come in, the queue-exemption card is honoured, and every station has an information sheet for voters with hearing impairments. A helper: a voter who cannot carry out the act of voting because of illness or disability may bring a helper. The helper may not be the manager or an employee of the institution where the voter lives, and may help at most two voters that day (per Kol Zchut, section 75 of the law).
Students and people away from home
Israel has no absentee voting for the general public: you vote only at the station where you are registered. A student living in another city votes at the station for their address in the population registry. The deadline to change it for this election passed on 3.9.2026. What helps you get there: free public transport, from 26.10 at 20:00 until public transport stops on 27.10: - Intercity buses, on trips over 15 km: free, with no ID or ticket. Line information: *8787. Trips up to 15 km are paid. - Israel Railways: a free ticket at ticket machines or desks, on all lines, with no distance limit. Information: *5770. - For Eilat, register in advance with Egged: 03-6948888 or *2800.
Soldiers, hospital patients, prisoners and police
Conscripts and career soldiers: vote at a military station or at their civilian one, once only, in a double envelope. Most military stations open on election day, and in some units from 20.10. Reservists on active duty: may vote at a military station. Anyone who already voted at a civilian station does not vote again. Hospital patients: a patient admitted on election day (not a day-ward admission that began that day) votes at the hospital's station, if it has at least 50 licensed beds. Bring the admission confirmation and an ID. The ballot box does not come to the bed, so a patient who cannot move will not be able to vote. Prisoners and detainees: every prison and detention facility has a station, with double envelopes. Police and Shin Bet: may vote at any station with a valid police ID, in a double envelope. Abroad: only state and national-institution emissaries and their families voted, on 15.10. Israelis abroad for any other reason cannot vote there.
Election day: a day off, with pay
Election day is a day off. The Elections Committee published a list of 17 services that keep working, among them transport, restaurants, food shops from 06:00 to 14:00, hospitals and the security services, and their workers must be given a chance to vote. A worker employed by the same employer for at least 14 consecutive days before the election who misses work because of the day off is paid their regular wage, and no vacation day may be deducted (per Kol Zchut, section 136 of the law).
Who is running: the 37 lists
The Central Elections Committee approved 38 lists on 27.9.2026. The כן list (Blue and White, led by Benny Gantz) is not running: all its candidates resigned on 20 and 21.10.2026, although it still appears on the official ballot poster. These are the 37 running lists, in the order the Committee published them, each with its ballot letters, its name and its first candidate as published (in Hebrew, surname first). They are listed with no recommendation and no ranking. אמת: הדמוקרטים בראשות יאיר גולן (first candidate: גולן יאיר) ב: עוצמה יהודית בראשות איתמר בן גביר (first candidate: בן גביר איתמר) בד: מפלגת ביחד נצליח – רשימה משותפת ערבית יהודית בראשות אבי שקד (first candidate: שקד אבי) בי: צומת בית ישראל (first candidate: יברקן דסטה) בקר: אורות השחר בראשות ניסים לוק (first candidate: לוק נסים) ג: יהדות התורה והשבת אגודת ישראל – דגל התורה (first candidate: אשר יעקב) ד: השותפות לכולם (first candidate: אלקרינאוי טלאל) די: המילואימניקים והכלכלית בראשות יועז הנדל וירון זליכה (first candidate: הנדל יועז) דרך: ישר! עם איזנקוט לראשות הממשלה מאחדים את ישראל (first candidate: איזנקוט גד) ה: גן עדן בראשות ישוע ישראל בן דוד (first candidate: בן דוד ישוע ישראל) ודם: הרשימה המשותפת (first candidate: ג'בארין יוסף) ז: בטח – בטחון חברתי בראשות סמיון גרפמן (first candidate: גרפמן סמיון) זך: הציבור החרדי בראשות מוטי ליטנר (first candidate: ליטנר פנחס מרדכי) זץ: ברית עולם לגאולת ישראל (first candidate: ליפשיץ עופר פינחס) ט: הציונות הדתית בראשות בצלאל סמוטריץ' וזהות בראשות משה פייגלין (first candidate: סמוטריץ בצלאל יואל) י: ישראל תחילה בראשות שרן השכל (first candidate: השכל שרן מרים) יק: גה"ת – גוש התנ"כי (first candidate: ליפקין דניס) ך: עמך ישראל בראשות עופר וינטר (first candidate: ווינטר עופר) ל: ישראל ביתנו בראשות אביגדור ליברמן (first candidate: ליברמן אביגדור) מחל: הליכוד בהנהגת בנימין נתניהו לראשות הממשלה (first candidate: נתניהו בנימין) ני: נעם לישראל למען עתיד הילדים בראשות אבי מעוז (first candidate: מעוז אביגדור) נף: שמע בראשות נפתלי גולדמן (first candidate: גולדמן נפתלי בורוך) נץ: ביטחון אישי (first candidate: טופצ'יאשוילי מיכאל) נקי: התיקון לשיטת הבחירות והממשל (first candidate: סלמוביץ משה) נר: צבע שחור – מגן עולם התורה (first candidate: באומרינד אליהו אליעזר) עם: רע"ם – הרשימה הערבית המאוחדת (first candidate: עבאס מנסור) פה: אני ואתה מפלגת העם הישראלית (first candidate: גלעדי אלון) צבי: תנועת אחי תנועתו של הרב יורם אברג'ל זצ"ל (first candidate: אלמלך יובל) צדק: שרשר לאהבה ואחדות העם (first candidate: שוילי איתן) צף: הפיראטים – צפים לטוב (first candidate: שם טוב אוהד יעקב) ק: תקומה (first candidate: פדרמן אלקנא) קה: קול הנשים (first candidate: ישראל שדמי עמיר) קך: סדר-חדש לכינון חוקה, להפרדת רשויות ולבחירות אישיות (first candidate: אופק אביטל חי) קץ: משפט צדק (first candidate: עמיר רננה לריסה) רץ: הקהל – מפלגה כלל חרדית בראשות הרב שלמה אלבוים (first candidate: אלבוים שלמה) רק: ביחד בראשות נפתלי בנט (first candidate: בנט נפתלי) שס: התאחדות הספרדים שומרי תורה תנועתו של מרן הרב עובדיה יוסף זצ"ל (first candidate: דרעי אריה מכלוף) Each list's full candidates are on the Elections Committee's page (link below).
FAQ
How do I find my polling station?
Send a WhatsApp or SMS to 053-3801464 with your ID number and date of birth, call 1-800-101975, or use the Interior Ministry's polling-station lookup. The voter notice mailed to you also names your station.
Can I vote with a driving licence?
Yes, if it is valid. An ID card, a valid passport and a valid IDF ID are also accepted. The voter notice is not required.
Where does a student living in another city vote?
At the station for their address in the population registry. There is no absentee voting for the general public. Intercity buses (over 15 km) and trains are free from 26.10 at 20:00.
Is election day a day off?
Yes. A worker employed for at least 14 consecutive days is paid their regular wage, with no vacation day deducted. Essential services keep working, and their workers must be given a chance to vote.
Official links
- Find your polling station by ID number (Interior Ministry)
- Voter information, phone lines and IDs (Interior Ministry)
- The running lists and their candidates (Central Elections Committee)
- Polling-station map, including special accessible stations
- Accessibility in the 26th Knesset election
- Free public transport on election day (Committee notice, PDF)
"Who should I vote for" quizzes
Tools to help you think, not a Shukshuk recommendation. Each quiz follows its makers' own method. Both are in Hebrew.
The lists' websites
Only lists whose official website was verified on 22.10.2026, in the Committee's order. For the other lists no site was verified; every list's candidates are on the Elections Committee's page.
Sources
- Interior Ministry, the 26th Knesset election (Hebrew)
- Central Elections Committee, information for voters (Hebrew)
- Central Elections Committee, the approved lists (27.9.2026, updated 22.10.2026) (Hebrew)
- Central Elections Committee, voter transport (PDF, Hebrew)
- Kol Zchut, the right to vote for the Knesset (Hebrew)
- Kol Zchut, polling stations (Hebrew)
See also
This information was taken from the Interior Ministry, the Central Elections Committee and Kol Zchut on 22.10.2026 and may change. Before you go, check the details with the Elections Committee's hotline. Shukshuk does not recommend any list, and the lists appear in the order the Committee published them.