Israel’s election has brought a longstanding clash over the country’s identity to the forefront, forcing a reckoning over whether the Jewish state can embrace its 2 million Arab citizens amid their lawmakers’ emergence as a powerful political force.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu edged ahead of opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot in the country’s tightly fought election, though a surge in the Arab vote ensured neither has a clear path toward forming a government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent much of election day warning his base that Arab citizens were voting in record numbers. He was right.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot are neck and neck in the first election since the 2023 Hamas attacks, setting up a tense period of negotiations over who will form the next government.

For months, Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has pitched himself as a modest alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, campaigning more on reliability than a markedly different approach to the country’s myriad security challenges.

Israeli police arrested 10 people in connection with attacks on an American photojournalist and foreign diplomats by West Bank settlers, an incident that’s stoked European and US calls for a crackdown.

Israeli Arabs say the last four years under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government have become so intolerable that they are looking to turn out in record numbers to unseat him.

Israel’s highest court unanimously reversed a ban on Arab parties from participating in elections slated for the end of October.

Israel’s main elections committee barred leading Arab parties from next month’s vote, following petitions from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

In a recent video widely circulated online, Israel’s top justices and its attorney general are seen being dragged by security guards from a chaotic anti-government protest that never took place.

While Israel has faced sharp criticism over its war in Gaza, start-up executives say foreigners are eager to buy systems developed and tested on the battlefield.

Israeli officials oppose the inclusion of diplomats from Turkey and Qatar, nations Israel says will work to ensure Hamas’s survival.

The death of Yasser Abu Shabab, a prominent clan leader in Gaza, could threaten Israel’s experiment in arming local militias to challenge Hamas’s rule.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have left over the past two years, and many are young and well-educated, raising concerns over economic and social consequences.