2026 Knesset Elections: Surplus Agreements Shift Political Alliances
Political preparations for the 2026 Knesset elections intensify as surplus agreements take shape, forcing tactical alliances across both opposition and right-wing blocs.
Political preparations for the 2026 Knesset elections are intensifying as major surplus-vote agreements are finalized, aiming to maximize every ballot and prevent the loss of mandates. In the bloc opposing Benjamin Netanyahu, the pairing arrangements have been completed following the early alliance between Naftali Bennett's list "Бе-яхад" and Avigdor Lieberman's "Yisrael Beytenu", which forced Gadi Eisenkot of the "Yashar!" party to sign a parallel agreement with Yair Golan and "The Democrats".
Eisenkot's party welcomed the completion of the move, emphasizing that it is part of lessons learned and the reorganization of the camp, with the goal of ensuring that every vote seeking to change the government is fully expressed.
Conversely, the move drew a sharp attack from Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who claimed that the alliance between Eisenkot and Golan proves that voting for Eisenkot will directly lead to the formation of a left-wing government in which Golan would hold a senior security position.
Simultaneously, a tactical complication is emerging on the right side of the political map. Prime Minister Netanyahu's intention to sign a surplus agreement with Smotrich leaves Itamar Ben Gvir in a bind, with the most prominent option before him being an alliance with Ofer Winter.
The risk for Ben Gvir lies in the fact that if Winter's party fails to cross the electoral threshold, those votes will not be counted in the final allocation, resulting in direct electoral damage for "Otzma Yehudit".
The surplus-vote agreements mechanism, based on the Bader-Offer method, allows two factions to combine their remaining unallocated votes to secure additional mandates. The agreement does not physically transfer ballots between parties, but provides a mathematical advantage that increases the chance of winning an extra seat at the expense of rival parties.
