38 lists have been submitted for the 26th Knesset elections — from Likud, Eisenkot, and the Bennett-Lapid alliance to the Pirates, Paradise, and the candidate in a crown. But the main question is not about the exotic: several small parties are near the 3.25% threshold, and their results could change the composition of the next Israeli government.
Author: Lev Varshavsky
On September 8, 2026, the submission of lists for the 26th Knesset elections in Israel was completed. The Central Election Commission received 38 applications. Voting is scheduled for October 27, 2026, but it is too early to definitively speak of 38 participants: the CEC must verify the candidates, names, and letter designations of the lists. Final approval is expected on September 27.
The number 38 is not a record for Israel. In 2022, 40 lists were submitted, and in one of the 2019 elections — 47. Israel’s proportional system allows relatively small political projects to reach a national level, but to obtain mandates, it is necessary to overcome the 3.25% threshold.
If a party does not pass the threshold, its votes are not ‘transferred’ to the winners but are excluded from the calculation of the distribution of 120 mandates. In 2022, MERETZ received 150,793 votes, about 3.16%, and was left without seats in the Knesset. Therefore, a few tenths of a percent can change not only the fate of one party but also the balance of an entire political camp.
All 38 lists and who leads them
1. ביחד — ‘Together’. The list is headed by Naftali Bennett, with Yair Lapid as the second number. It is one of the largest new alliances of the campaign and one of the main competitors of Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s party.
2. ישר! עם איזנקוט — ‘Straight! with Eisenkot’. Led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. In recent polls, his project is among the campaign leaders and claims the first place in terms of mandates.
3. שרשר — לאהבה ואחדות העם — ‘Sharshar — for love and unity of the people’. Leader — Eitan Shvili, known as Sharshar. He came to submit documents in a blue robe and crown, and named the woman in the second position as his ‘queen’. Among the declared themes are helping people with post-traumatic syndrome and veterans.
4. השותפות לכולם — ‘Partnership for All’. The list is headed by Talal al-Krinawi from Rahat. It is one of several small Arab projects participating in the elections separately from RAAM and the Joint List.
5. הפיראטים צפים לטוב — ‘Pirates sail for the better’. The leadership of the list includes Ohad Shem-Tov and Noam Kozar. Israeli ‘Pirates’ are not participating in the elections for the first time, and in 2026, additional attention was drawn to them by behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely.
6. עמך ישראל — ‘Your People, Israel’. Leader — former IDF Brigadier General Ofer Winter. Yosef Haddad became the second number. Winter positions the project as a right-wing party and stated that he sees himself only in a right-wing government.
7. ישראל תחילה — ‘Israel First’. Led by Sharren Haskel. The project also joined a political structure associated with the ‘Ale Yarok’ movement.
8. גן עדן — ‘Paradise’. Leader — Yeshua Ben-David. He calls himself a candidate for Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, speaks of a state partially based on Halacha, promises debt and mortgage forgiveness, and declares a desire to become a priest in the Temple.
9. קול הנשים — ‘Voice of Women’. The list is headed by Dr. Mazal Shaul. The project is built around separate women’s political representation.
10. ביחד נצליח — ‘Together We Will Succeed’. The list is headed by entrepreneur Avi Shaked. It is an Arab-Jewish project, one of the creators of which was social activist Drar Americh from Tamra.
11. ישראל ביתנו — ‘Our Home Israel’. The leader remains Avigdor Lieberman. The party is once again running as an independent force and occupies a stable place in the opposition camp.
12. משפט צדק — ‘Fair Trial’. The list is headed by Dr. Larisa Amir-Trembovler. It is one of the small projects focusing on judicial and socio-political agendas.
13. שמע — ‘Listen’. Led by Naftali Goldman. The party is among the small religiously oriented lists of the current campaign.
14. עוצמה יהודית — ‘Jewish Power’. Leader — Itamar Ben-Gvir. In these elections, the party is running separately, despite attempts to consolidate the right-wing camp around other religious-national projects.
15. סדר חדש — ‘New Order’. The list is headed by lawyer Avital Ofek. He has already participated in previous election campaigns with ideas of political and state reform.
16. המילואימניקים והכלכלית — ‘Reservists and Economic Party’. The project is led by Yoaz Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha. Former deputy Einat Wilf is the third number. In some polls, the union overcomes the threshold and receives four mandates.
17. הדמוקרטים — ‘Democrats’. Leader — Yair Golan. The party occupies the left and center-left segment and is one of the notable parliamentary forces of the opposition.
18. רע״ם — ‘United Arab List’. The list is headed by Mansour Abbas. The party is once again running independently and competes for the Arab voter with the Joint List and smaller Arab projects.
19. ש״ס — ‘Shas’. Leader — Aryeh Deri. It is one of the two largest Haredi parties in Israel and a traditional participant in coalition formation.
20. הציבור החרדי — ‘Haredi Public’. The list is headed by Moti Leitner. It is one of several small Haredi projects that have emerged alongside Shas and ‘Yahadut HaTorah’.
21. אני ואתה — מפלגת העם הישראלית — ‘You and I — Israeli People’s Party’. Led by lawyer and doctor Alon Giladi. The very name emphasizes the attempt to present the project as an alternative to traditional party structures.
22. ברית עולם לגאולת ישראל — ‘Eternal Alliance for the Redemption of Israel’. Leader — Ofer Lifshitz. The party’s name combines the ideas of eternal alliance and religious redemption of Israel.
23. תיקון שיטת הבחירות והממשל — ‘Reform of the Electoral System and Governance’. Moshe Salomovich is the first number. The political program is practically spelled out in the name: the main focus is on changing the rules of governance and elections.
24. הגוש התנ״כי — ‘Biblical Bloc’. Led by Dennis Lipkin. It is a separate religious-political project that is not part of Smotrich’s bloc or major Haredi parties.
25. בטח — ביטחון חברתי — ‘Social Security’. Leader — Semen Grafman. The party focuses on the social and economic security of citizens.
26. אורות השחר — ‘Light of Dawn’. The list is headed by Benayahu Har-Shemesh. The project positions itself as a separate right-wing social force.
27. ביטחון אישי — ‘Personal Security’. The first number is Michael Topchiashvili. The very name shows the project’s main focus — internal security and protection of citizens.
28. צבע שחור — מגן עולם התורה — ‘Black Color — Defender of the Torah World’. Led by Rabbi Eliyahu Boymrind. This is another small Haredi religious list in the current elections.
29. הליכוד — ‘Likud’. Leader — Benjamin Netanyahu. The party remains the main center of the current right-wing camp and one of the main contenders for forming the next government.
30. כחול לבן — ‘Blue and White’. The list is headed by Benny Gantz. The main problem for him now is the electoral threshold: some of the latest polls give the party a result noticeably below the required 3.25%.
31. הציונות הדתית וזהות — ‘Religious Zionism and Zehut’. The first number is Bezalel Smotrich, the second is Moshe Feiglin. The union is largely technical: the task is to reduce the risk of losing right-wing votes due to one of the parties not passing.
32. תנועת אח״י — ‘AHI Movement’. The list is headed by Rabbi Yuval Elimelech. It is another independent religious project among the numerous small lists of the campaign.
33. צומת — בית ישראל — ‘Junction — House of Israel’. The project unites Moshe Green and former deputy Gadi Yevarkan. It tries to occupy a separate niche in the right-wing and socially conservative field.
34. תקומה — ‘Revival’. Leader — Elkana Federman. On October 7, 2023, he was responsible for the security of the Nova festival, was injured, and participated in rescuing people. He enters politics with the idea of strengthening the representation of the generation of reservists and war participants.
35. הרשימה המשותפת — ‘Joint List’. HADASH, TAAL, and BALAD are once again performing together. The first number is Yousef Jabareen, the second is Ahmad Tibi, the third is Sami Abu Shehadeh.
36. הקהל — ‘Assembly’. Led by Rabbi Shlomo Elboim. It is a general Haredi list participating separately from the main ultra-Orthodox parties.
37. יהדות התורה — ‘Judaism of the Torah’. The first number is Yaakov Asher, followed by Yitzhak Goldknopf and Yitzhak Pindrus. The party remains one of the key Haredi forces and a traditional participant in coalition negotiations.
38. נעם לישראל — ‘Noam for Israel’. Leader — Avi Maoz. The party is running separately and occupies a strictly religious-conservative position.
Why small parties still matter
A list that failed to overcome the 3.25% threshold but received more than 1% of valid votes can claim one unit of state funding for the election campaign. In the 26th Knesset elections, the size of such a unit is about 1.835 million shekels.
This does not mean that the state pays millions just for registration. To receive compensation, it is necessary to gather a significant number of real votes. But the 1% threshold creates an intermediate goal for a party that does not expect to immediately receive four mandates.
In the 2026 elections, the rules for letter designations have also changed. Now a list can use a combination of up to three Hebrew letters. Therefore, the ballot includes options that form words, such as דרך — ‘path’, צדק — ‘justice’, and בקר — ‘morning’.
At the same time, disputes arose over separate designations. Several projects wanted to obtain the letter ב; combinations כן and בי were also in demand by more than one list. The CEC must consider the previous rights of parties and the consent of the holders of the designations, so the final appearance of the ballot will be determined after verification.
But for NANews — News of Israel the main storyline of this campaign is still not in the ‘Pirates’, Sharshar’s crown, or the name ‘Paradise’. Most of these projects will almost certainly remain far from the Knesset. The real threat to large camps is created by parties that receive about 2–4% and are a few tenths of a percent from the threshold.
That is why Smotrich preferred to unite with Feiglin, while Ben-Gvir and Ofer Winter are going independently. On the other flank, Gantz retained a separate list despite weak polls, while Hendel and Zelekha, on the contrary, united and in some studies already cross the threshold.
For the future coalition, this has direct significance. If a party receives 3.3%, it enters the Knesset with approximately four mandates. If the result falls to 3.2%, it receives zero. A difference of one-tenth of a percent can simultaneously remove one potential partner from parliament and increase the relative share of votes of all passing parties.
Therefore, after October 27, it will be important to look not only at the winner. Equally significant will be the sum of the votes of the parties that stopped just below 3.25%. It is there that tens or even hundreds of thousands of votes may disappear, which will then change the balance of power between the two blocs.
38 lists show a characteristic feature of Israeli politics: it is relatively easy to start national elections, but turning a political idea into seats in the Knesset is much more difficult. In one ballot, there are former prime ministers, generals, ultra-Orthodox parties, Arab movements, economists, ‘Pirates’, religious activists, and a man in a crown.
NANews — News of Israel will continue to monitor which lists the CEC will finally approve on September 27, what designations they will receive, and who will approach the critical mark of 3.25% on October 27.