38 Parties Submit Lists for Upcoming Israeli Knesset Elections

The deadline for parties and blocs to submit their lists for the upcoming 26th Knesset elections, scheduled for October 27, has passed, with 38 lists filed with the Central Elections Committee. This number is slightly lower than the 40 lists submitted for the 2022 elections, and significantly less than the record 47 lists in 2019. The Central Elections Committee is now reviewing the submitted lists, their candidate compositions, names, and requested letter designations, with final approval expected by September 27.

For the first time, parties are permitted to use up to three Hebrew letters for their designations, leading to some unique choices such as דרך ('path'), צדק ('justice'), and בקר ('morning'). The news outlet Newsru.co.il has published a full list of the 38 submissions, including their leaders and requested designations, in the order they were filed.

Notable among the submissions are lists led by prominent figures including Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid (jointly), Gadi Eisenkot, former IDF Brigadier General Ofer Winter, Avigdor Lieberman, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Yair Golan, Mansour Abbas (RAAM), Aryeh Deri (Shas), Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), and Benny Gantz (Blue and White).

Several parties have requested overlapping letter designations, such as the letter 'ב' requested by both 'Be'Yachad' and 'Otzma Yehudit'. The Central Elections Committee will consider legal precedents and agreements between parties when resolving such conflicts. The published list is therefore preliminary, pending final legal verification and approval.