70% of Israelis fear for integrity of election, minority upbeat on democracy — poll

Israel Democracy Institute finds only 40% of Israelis, and only 24.5% of Arab citizens, are optimistic about the future of democracy in the country

Nearly three-quarters of Jewish Israelis are concerned over possible danger to the integrity of the 2026 election, and only 43 percent are optimistic about the future of democratic rule, a poll published on Thursday has found.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute’s July 2026 Israeli Voice Index, 70% of Israelis (72% of Jews and 58.5% of Arabs) “think that there is danger to the integrity of Israel’s elections,” which are slated to be held on October 27.

Among respondents, 90% of Jews on the political left, 76% in the center and 66% on the right expressed concern about the issue.

The poll also found that a minority — 40% of Israelis — are optimistic about the future of Israeli democracy (up from 37% last month), with 43% of Jews and only 24.5% of Arabs expressing optimism about the future of democratic rule.

The institute’s pollsters asked about election integrity following last month’s speech by President Isaac Herzog in which he warned of “violence rearing its head” and pleaded with Israelis not to “cross red lines” during campaign season, noting that past periods of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel were destroyed by internecine hatred.

The president warned of both “internal and external” threats to the integrity of the elections, and urged law enforcement to act against all such threats.

“I turn to elected representatives, activists, and all candidates from all parties, and demand that you do not cross red lines. Do not turn rivals into enemies,” Herzog said. “I call on the people of Israel, in a clear voice: Remember that elections are not a civil war.”

He noted a meeting he held earlier in July with Shin Bet chief David Zini and Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg, which followed backlash over comments from Zini about being loyal to the current government.

At the meeting, the participants stressed their commitment to “ensuring the integrity of the election,” Herzog said, noting that Zini and Sohlberg had presented him with “various threats to the integrity of the elections.”

“We presented a unified front on this issue, and we committed to supporting and backing the Central Elections Committee and all our security and law enforcement bodies. I call on all of the law enforcement authorities to stand firmly and effectively against these threats,” he said.

Voting challenges

Some experts have warned that attacks against the Central Elections Committee by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party could potentially presage a challenge to the results of the election.

The Knesset Finance Committee cut the Central Elections Committee’s budget by NIS 50 million ($16.9 million) in February, despite significant concerns that both foreign interference and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence could adversely affect the election.

The coalition recently opposed the placing of polling stations in old age homes, whose residents are generally more liberal than the general population.

At the same time, senior officials in Likud Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s office have been reported to discuss ways to limit the number of flights coming into Ben Gurion Airport in the days leading up to election, in order to thwart the arrival of voters for parties opposed to Netanyahu. Israelis living overseas have told the Ynet news site that they have had trouble confirming their voter eligibility online.

Israelis abroad cannot cast absentee ballots and must come home to vote. There have been indications of a mobilization of opposition supporters living abroad to travel to Israel to vote.

The first year of the government’s tenure was marked by massive protests against the coalition’s judicial overhaul agenda, which critics asserted would have irrevocably harmed Israeli democracy by curtailing the power of the High Court and other independent guardrail institutions.

Fear of violence

Another recent poll by the Institute for National Security Studies found that 39% of Israelis ranked “violent conflict between groups” in Israel as one of the country’s leading threats, alongside a nuclear Iran.

The anti-Netanyahu parties and many of their supporters lay blame for this inflammatory discourse at the prime minister’s feet, pointing to the far-right politicians in his cabinet (including a national security minister who was previously convicted of incitement and support for terrorism), in addition to the provocateurs his lawmakers liaise with, and the mass Haredi anti-draft protests that his coalition partners endorse and that have targeted the homes of public officials, sometimes destructively.

Coalition MKs and ministers have also been involved in violent riots, taking part in a mob attack on an IDF base in 2024. Among those who entered the Sde Teiman base without authorization were MK Nissim Vaturi of the ruling Likud party, MK Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionism party, and National Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of Otzma Yehudit.

For his part, Netanyahu has railed against incitement by critics of the government, at one point holding a two-hour cabinet discussion of the matter.

Ben Sales and Nava Freiberg contributed to this report.