Israeli Parties Submit Final Knesset Slates Ahead of October Election

A total of 38 parties submitted their candidate lists on Tuesday for the upcoming Knesset elections, marking the end of the period for forming new alliances or mergers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party filed its slate with former Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in the second spot. Likud's reserved picks included a Channel 14 commentator and the mother of a border police officer killed on October 7. Center leaning sources noted that only one of Netanyahu's reserved choices is a woman, which they framed as a failure to meet his promise to increase gender parity.

The ultra Orthodox Shas party released its list with Lt. Col. (Res.) Dror Amos in the sixth spot. Left leaning sources reported that the placement of MK Yoav Ben Tzur in fourth place was a blow to party chairman Arye Deri, as it followed efforts to oust him. Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist Party merged with the Zehut party, placing Bezalel Smotrich first and Moshe Feiglin second. This merger resulted in some RZP veterans, such as Zvi Sukkot, being placed in less realistic positions.

Benny Gantz's Blue and White party submitted its list without merging with other factions, despite polling suggesting it might not pass the electoral threshold. The party stated its top ten candidates would be 50 percent women. In other developments, the Joint List announced its final slate, while the Arab Jewish party A Place for Us All withdrew from the race to avoid wasting opposition votes after merger attempts failed.