Israel’s 2026 election is taking place at a moment of profound political and social turmoil. The war that followed the October 7 attacks, continuing debates over security and the future of Gaza and the West Bank, tensions over the role of religion in public life, and deep divisions over the country’s democratic institutions have all reshaped Israel’s political landscape.
This lecture will introduce the main parties and political actors competing in the election, examining both established political forces and new alliances and parties seeking to challenge them. It will explore the key issues shaping the campaign, the changing divisions between Israel’s political blocs, and what current public opinion can tell us about the possible outcome. Beyond the question of who will form the next government, the lecture will ask what is really at stake in the election: the future direction of Israeli democracy, the balance between religion and state, approaches to security and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, more broadly, competing visions of Israel’s political future.
Irena Kalhousová is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague and serves as the Head of the Herzl Center for Israel Studies. Her research primarily examines the impact of trauma on foreign policy formation, and she further specializes in Israel and its relationships with Central European countries and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has published in various leading academic journals, including the European Journal of International Relations, International Affairs, Cooperation and Conflict, and JCMS. In addition to her academic work, she regularly contributes expert commentary on Israeli politics and the Middle East for Czech and international media and provides expert analysis and briefings to various public institutions. Irena holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), an MPhil in European Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.