On Tuesday Israel holds its first election since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, the deadliest day in the country’s history, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians.

Since then Israel has pursued a war of annihilation in Gaza, launched two inconclusive wars with Iran, and intensified a campaign of state-backed ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank .

Domestically the coalition formed by Benjamin Netanyahu has taken aim at democratic institutions, including the supreme court. Many Israelis have described this election as the most consequential in their country’s history.

Who are the main players?

The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has led Israel for 19 out of the last 30 years, most recently at the head of a far-right coalition. He is seeking a new mandate with the endorsement of the US president, Donald Trump, and the fight is personal as well as political.…