Will Israel election happen as scheduled?

Polling stations in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, with armed escort - and voting to begin a week in advance: IDF prepares for Knesset elections The IDF publishes details of preparations for the 2026 Knesset elections: IDF soldiers will be able to vote for the Knesset through approximately 850 military polling stations that will be placed at every outpost and in the operational sectors - including within Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. About a quarter of the polling stations, more than 200, will be mobile polling stations - that will be moved between the IDF's forward posts in the various sectors. Each mobile polling station will move along a predetermined route through the various operational sectors, with an armed escort. The IDF elections will begin on Tuesday evening next week (October 20), about a week before the elections, to allow for changes and to prepare for developments in the operational situation, and to also allow soldiers who will be in operational activity to vote on any day that is possible according to the decision of their commanders. The IDF clarifies that the mission is to ensure that all soldiers - in regular service and in the reserves, can exercise their democratic right and vote in a secret and proper manner. It will be the responsibility of each commander to ensure that all his soldiers are given the opportunity to vote (if they so wished, of course), and it is also the responsibility of the commanders to ensure that the conduct of the polling stations is carried out properly and in accordance with the procedures. About 3,000 military polling station members who have undergone training and preparation have been recruited for the military polling stations. The members of the polling stations are soldiers in regular service, up to the rank of sergeant major. As we published in Galei Tzahal, in preparation for the elections, the IDF has banned the invitation of external lectures to soldiers, and it has also been determined that visits by military units to civilian locations will be reduced. In the previous elections, the voter turnout in the IDF was more than 73%, and the IDF estimates that this time the percentages will be similar or higher.

According to the report, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told his American counterparts that such an attack could delay Israel's general elections, which are scheduled to be held on October 27.

First publication: Peak preparations for Election Day for the 26th Knesset: The Shin Bet held a huge, first-of-its-kind, classified exercise throughout Jerusalem today, designed to examine the state's preparedness for extreme scenarios that could threaten Election Day, which will be held this October. As part of the exercise, which was conducted in cooperation with the Central Elections Committee and with the participation of all security and emergency agencies, a series of exceptional scenarios were simulated, including the possibility of postponing Election Day following a security incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's movement between polling stations in Jerusalem, in schools and in the nation's buildings. Also simulated were scenarios of assassination attempts, missile firing, drone attacks, attempts to infiltrate sensitive locations, cyber attacks, the distribution of phishing messages and attempts at foreign influence on the election process.