Likud approaches Israel’s Oct. 27 election as the country’s governing party and the main force on the right. Led by Benjamin Netanyahu, it won 32 of the Knesset’s 120 seats in 2022, more than any other party. It now asks voters to renew their confidence after a term dominated by a seven-front war. Understanding that appeal means looking at Netanyahu’s record and the political movement behind him.
The movement
Founded in 1973, Likud brought together Menachem Begin’s nationalist Herut movement and smaller groups. Begin’s victory four years later ended nearly three decades of Labor political dominance. It also solidified Likud’s political base among Mizrahi Jews, whose families came from the Middle East and North Africa and whose support has been the central source of Likud’s electoral strength.
Likud’s ideological roots combined Revisionist Zionism, economic liberalism and Jewish tradition. While solidly in the right-wing camp, Likud has also had a long tradition of pragmatic compromise. Since its founding, Likud has led or supported several initiatives opposed to its stated ideological position, including the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, the 1997 Hebron Agreement, the 1998 Wye River Memorandum and the 2005 disengagement from Gaza.
The party’s more recent history has been dominated by the towering presence of Netanyahu. First elected prime minister in 1996, Netanyahu returned to office in 2009 and has remained in power ever since, excluding an 18-month stint in the opposition starting in mid-2021.
The parliamentary candidates running alongside him include Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who won August’s party primary, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Transport Minister Miri Regev. They occupy the four places immediately below Netanyahu on the submitted list. Most candidates were chosen through the membership primary, but nine places went to Netanyahu’s appointees, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Elisha Medan, an IDF reservist who was critically wounded during the fighting in Gaza.
The platform
Security remains the campaign’s organizing theme. At Likud’s September launch, Netanyahu pointed to Israel’s military operations since Oct. 7, 2023, as evidence of his government’s resolve and pledged continued action against the Iranian regime, Hezbollah and Hamas. Likud has also placed opposition to a Palestinian state as a hallmark of its security policy and has hammered political opponents for their alleged ineffectiveness in opposing such a state.
The security debate also includes questions about the failures preceding the Oct. 7 attack and the division of responsibility between political and military leaders. These sit alongside the government’s subsequent conduct of the war in the debate over Likud’s record.
In the diplomatic arena, Netanyahu committed the party to resisting international pressure, claiming he would protect Israel’s freedom of action. Alongside that position, Likud’s platform calls for the expansion of the 2020 Abraham Accords, and for the “securing of strategic alliances in the region.”
Domestically, Justice Minister Levin’s judicial reform has been one of the government’s most consequential initiatives. Clashes between the government and the judiciary have been routine as Likud has sought to curb the judiciary’s power. Levin has particularly focused on weakening the courts’ influence over judicial nominations. A continuation of this effort is very likely if Likud emerges victorious in the next election.
On the economy, Likud has largely advocated for free-market capitalist policies. Its preference for private enterprise and competition translates into an emphasis on reducing barriers to business and imports. In the current government, Likud has pushed through several significant regulation-cutting reforms including the “What’s Good for Europe is Good for Israel” policy. (The reform, which took effect in January 2025, allows Israel to recognize European regulatory standards for many imported consumer products, eliminating the need for separate Israeli regulatory approval or testing.)
Despite the general trend toward free market policies, Likud has a wing with ties to Israel’s labor movement. These ties have made the phenomenon of Likud MKs backing socialist or regulatory policies in the Knesset not uncommon. Most recently, several Likud MKs opposed a law seeking to cut taxes on the import of personal items.
Respect for Jewish tradition also shapes Likud’s politics. Likud has advanced a series of policies to integrate Jewish cultural values deeper into Israel’s education system, including the Roots program, which strengthened Jewish and Zionist identity education, including standardized Bible assessment in elementary schools.
While on most issues Likud’s current campaign demonstrates political continuity with its traditional platform, the rising controversy surrounding haredi enlistment has led to a significant rhetorical shift relative to earlier election cycles. Likud is currently advocating for greater ultra-Orthodox enlistment and has opened the door for significant legal consequences against draft dodgers. “Whoever does not study Torah will enlist. Whoever says ‘We’ll die rather than enlist’ should go straight to prison. I won’t accept that,” Netanyahu said in a recent interview. Likud still supports exemptions for full-time haredi yeshivah students.
The partners
In 2022, Likud’s alliance with Shas, United Torah Judaism and the joint Religious Zionism–Otzma Yehudit list secured a 64-seat coalition. Its likely partners for the upcoming coalition negotiations now include the two haredi parties, Otzma Yehudit, the Religious Zionism–Zehut list and possibly Ofer Winter’s new People of Israel Party. Netanyahu has also expressed interest in a broader government, which might see Likud attempt to form a coalition with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party.
Current polling indicates that Likud is neck-and-neck with Yashar and may have to work across the aisle to assemble a 61-seat majority. Several polls have placed Likud at below 20 seats in the 120-seat legislature, which would mark the party’s worst performance since 2006. Other surveys have been more favorable, with a recent Channel 14 poll placing Likud at 31 seats with a comfortable coalition majority of 63 mandates.
For voters, the balance within that coalition matters as well as its size. Likud’s strength relative to its partners will shape negotiations over military service, public spending and judicial policy. Those negotiations would determine how much of the party’s agenda Netanyahu can implement, and what concessions another term would require.
