Likud candidates make final push, tout Netanyahu’s leadership ahead of Israeli election

(Oct. 25, 2026 / JNS)

As Israel’s Oct. 27 national election swiftly approaches, members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party are hitting the campaign trail to explain why they believe they best represent voters’ interests.

“We can feel the pulse on the ground. There was an event with the prime minister in Dimona—a large number of people packed into a small space,” Knesset candidate Almog Cohen told JNS on Wednesday.

Cohen, formerly a lawmaker for Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and currently a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, is ranked 13th on the Likud list and is well-positioned to enter the Knesset, with most polls projecting the party will win more than 20 mandates.

“We have people of all kinds and backgrounds. We are a right-wing faction whose leader is one of the most prominent figures in Jewish history,” said Cohen. “When the world, including U.S. President Joe Biden, told him to stop [the war against Hamas], imposed an arms embargo, urged him not to enter Rafah [in southern Gaza], said he would not bring back the hostages and told him not to strike Iran, he persevered.”

In a wide-ranging interview with JNS last week, Netanyahu outlined his ambitious agenda for another term: bringing down Iran’s regime and further weakening its regional terror proxies, expanding the Abraham Accords to include additional Muslim-majority countries, and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu also addressed sanctions, restrictions on arms supplies and hostile international opinion by outlining strategies to expand domestic weapons production, develop alternative partnerships and counter outside pressure.

The prime minister also discussed domestic politics, including the possibility of reintroducing judicial reform legislation, as well as building on decades of economic gains despite the war.

Cohen, who hails from southern Israel, said another commitment is to strengthen Israel’s presence in the Negev and Galilee. His vision includes building an international airport in the Negev to serve Israeli travelers, supported by a unique ecosystem that could generate 14,000 high-quality jobs.

“I am deeply driven to focus on the front lines of the fight against crime and terrorism—a mission to which I have devoted my entire life. With God’s help, I wish to continue serving the nation with dedication and integrity,” he told JNS.

‘Zionism, nationalism, tradition and responsibility’

Eti Hava Atia, ranked 20th on the Likud list, told JNS on Thursday that the week had been exciting and intense, with a packed schedule of activities and meetings with the public.

“I am entering the home stretch with strong faith in our path and a desire to continue working on behalf of Israeli citizens,” she said.

The possibility of forming a broad, right-wing national government rests with the voters, she added.

“Likud represents Zionism, nationalism, tradition and responsibility. It is committed to the State of Israel, its resilience and the well-being of its citizens, all guided by Zionist values,” she said.

Atia said her priorities include supporting disadvantaged communities, women and the elderly, reducing social and economic inequality, and ensuring that all citizens have equal opportunities and can live with dignity and security.

Knesset member Amit Halevi, who is 33rd on the Likud list, described the election as neck-and-neck but argued that the opposition would need only 48 seats to form a government, provided it could secure outside support from Arab parties.

He told JNS that Likud was best positioned to lead Israel from a national security perspective. “Israel is in the middle of a war, and winning it depends on one’s strategic outlook, understanding of the enemy and grasp of what is needed for victory,” Halevi said, arguing that opposition leaders remained stuck in the pre-Oct. 7 past and maintained an “Oslo mindset.”

Last Sunday, Netanyahu presented a new national security doctrine, stressing the necessity for “an upgrade of fundamental principles.”

The two-page document published by the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem calls for “giving priority to prevention and offense over containment and defense, including launching preemptive strikes to thwart evolving threats, and strengthening home front defense against new threats.”

The doctrine outlines the need for “cementing Israel’s status as a regional power; building maximum independence in munition production; ensuring superiority in the most advanced technologies; and intensifying the fight against global waves of antisemitism. Concurrently, opportunities have been created for forging new alliances in our region and beyond.”

The document lists 10 essential principles, first and foremost that the State of Israel must ensure military superiority over its enemies.

The doctrine also stresses preventing Israel’s adversaries from acquiring nuclear weapons; establishing deterrence via the capacity to launch massive and precise firepower, including the disruption of military and civilian systems; preventing cross-border invasions via security zones, home front protection and constant readiness for war; technological innovation and independence in weapons manufacture; and fighting anti-Zionist and antisemitic perceptions on the international stage.

Moshe Saada, ranked 17th on the Likud candidates list, told JNS that the election comes down to a choice between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, who hold fundamentally different worldviews.

“Netanyahu has a worldview centered on victory. We saw the strategic policies he implemented and how he changed the reality in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. We eliminated their political, scientific and military leadership,” he said.

Saada added that Netanyahu is the only leader capable of coordinating with U.S. President Donald Trump at such a high level. “Trump himself said Netanyahu is the only one he is willing to go to war with because he trusts him,” he said.

Saada said that, if re-elected to the Knesset, he would focus on judicial reform, tying state benefits to IDF service and preventing doctors who graduated from universities he considers incubators of terrorism, such as Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, from practicing medicine in Israel.