Date set for Knesset elections

There is finally an official date for the Knesset elections. It was decided today that the date of the dissolution of the Knesset will be July 17, meaning that the elections will be held on October 27. This date corresponds to the “original” election date, as set in the Basic Law: The Knesset. According to Article 9 of the Basic Law: “The elections to the Knesset will be on the third Tuesday of the month of Cheshvan of the year in which the term of the outgoing Knesset ended, but if the year before was a leap year, the elections will be on the first Tuesday of that month.” That translates to: October 27, 2026.

Will the Knesset continue as usual until then?

According to Article 37 of the Basic Law: The Knesset, “The outgoing Knesset will continue to serve until the convening of the incoming Knesset.” Dr. Assaf Shapira, head of the Political Reforms Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, says, “There is a difference here between the law and the procedure. Legally, there is continuity: the outgoing Knesset continues to serve, as stated in the Basic Law.

“But the procedure is that the Knesset goes into recess before the elections – this time from July 17 – and during this period its conduct is very limited. According to the practice that has been established for at least the last 20 years, and also according to the Knesset’s legal advice, almost all activity, and certainly legislation, is supposed to be carried out under agreement between the coalition and the opposition as part of the so-called ‘Consensus Committee’ that advances only urgent matters and only by agreement.”

However, he adds, “This does not mean the Knesset cannot try to pass things during this period. A notable exception to the procedure was in 2019, when the government tried to pass the Camera Law at the Ballot Box, about a week before the elections for the 22nd Knesset, without broad agreement, but the attempt failed” (because there was not the required majority of 61 MKs).

“In the past, legislation during elections was more common. Since the beginning of the 2000s, there has been greater restraint by the Knesset, there is a practice of legislating only by agreement, and especially urgent legislation – such as legislation surrounding the Covid pandemic. “But just because it’s a procedure and not an explicit law, there’s no promise for the future. However, whatever comes up without consent will become a legal matter. Ultimately, I don’t believe they’ll try to do things like that.”

When was the last time the Knesset served its full term?

38 years ago. The last Knesset to hold elections on the date set by law was the 11th Knesset, which served from 1984 to 1988. This was the Knesset of the rotating government between Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, which was technically considered two governments. The last Knesset to hold its term concurrently with a single government that lasted was the Seventh Knesset (1969-1973), and even then the elections were not held exactly on the precise date.

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Can elections be postponed beyond the set date?

Article 9a of the Basic Law: The Knesset states: “The Knesset shall not extend its term of office except by a law passed by a majority of eighty members of Knesset and if special circumstances exist that prevent the holding of elections on time; the period of extension shall not exceed the time required by the aforementioned circumstances; the date of the elections shall be set by said law.”

Section 9A itself is also protected by a majority of 80 MKs, making it one of only two sections in the law book that are protected by a majority of more than 61. Shapira explains that “Section 9A is intended for situations such as war, when elections cannot be held. Postponing elections is possible until the last minute, because war can break out at any moment and we don’t know when it will happen.”

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee and Deputy President of the Supreme Court Noam Solberg recently addressed the possibility of postponing elections in a time of emergency. He said that in the event that free, equal, and accessible elections cannot be held for all voters, then “a limited, supervised, and reasoned postponement may be justified – provided that it does not become a tool in the hands of the government to extend its term.”

Solberg listed six guiding principles for examining this type of postponement: the existence of a necessity to postpone them; postponement for a limited time; the impact of the postponement on competition (the principle of “institutional pluralism”); the postponement being a last resort; transparency of the reasons for the decision; and the existence of an arrangement for returning to normal.

Has this happened in the past?

As the Israel Democracy Institute explains, there are several precedents for postponing elections. The first time was when the state was founded: The Declaration of Independence stipulated that the elected authorities and the constitution would be established by October 1, 1948. However, the War of Independence established a different reality on the ground, and David Ben-Gurion determined that it was necessary first to win it and only then to establish the national institutions.

“We may not be able to fulfill all the commandments of democracy, and we will not fulfill some democratic laws, because of the supreme necessity of winning the war for our existence and our national freedom,” Ben-Gurion said in the Provisional People’s Council. There, it was decided to reschedule the elections for January 1949, when they were held. These elections were originally for the Constituent Council and not for the Legislative Assembly, but the latter enacted the Transitional Law in February and became the first Knesset.

The Seventh Knesset, which had served its full term, did not dissolve exactly on time. These elections were supposed to be held on October 30, 1973. However, on October 6 The Yom Kippur War broke out. There was concern that this would not allow elections to be held on time. Since at that time Article 9A of the Basic Law: The Knesset did not yet exist, the Knesset enacted (by a majority of 67 to 1) a special law, postponing the elections to December 31 of that year.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 12, 2026.

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