Still undecided? Find the lists of parties and candidates running, party platforms, campaign promises, election quizzes, the candidates’ debate, and the latest election polling.
Parties Running and Lists of Candidates
26 parties are officially running in the current elections. A full list of parties running and their official lists of candidates can be found on the Central Elections Committee’s website. In addition Knesset Insider has a list of the names in English of the top candidates running in the 11 parties most likely to enter the Knesset after elections.
Party Platforms
Most leading parties still publish party platforms – a list of goals, promises, and values which can help inform potential voters. Parties likely to cross the electoral threshold who have published party platforms are:
- Bayit Yehudi (in English), led by Naftali Bennett
- Joint (Arab) List, led by Ayman Odeh
- Kulanu, led by Moshe Kahlon
- Meretz, led by Zahava Gal-On
- Yachad, led by Eli Yishai
- Yesh Atid (will be available 02 March 2015), led by Yair Lapid
- Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman
- Zionist Union (Labor + Hatnua), led by Isaac “Buji” Herzog and Tzipi Livni
Parties which do not have platforms include the Likud, Shas, and United Torah Judaism.
Party Promises
From 27 November 2014 until now, nearly 200 promises have been made by parties. Whether the Likud’s promise not to raise taxes, Yesh Atid’s commitment to preventing public transportation on Shabbat, or Shas’s pledge not to be part of a left-wing government, the campaign promises made by parties and their leaders are another measure of what a party prioritizes and is committed to accomplishing. See the full and continually updated list of campaign promises.
Election Quizzes
There are a number of tools that can help you find which parties most closely match your opinions. Ranked by reliability based on my own personal results, the tools include:
- Israeli Election Slider – Available in Hebrew and English, slide your answers in six different areas and you will see which parties most closely match your opinions.
- Israeli Election Compass – Also available in Hebrew and English, answer 30 questions and you will receive the results of which parties you most closely match.
Watch the 2015 Debate
On 26 February 2015, the leaders of eight of the parties running participated in a debate on Channel 2. The participants were Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi), Ayman Odeh (Joint Arab List), Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu), Zahava Gal-On (Meretz), Aryeh Deri (Shas), Eli Yishai (Yachad), Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), and Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu). Notably missing were Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), and Isaac “Buji” Herzog and Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union – Labor + Hatnua).
Watch the full debate:
Election Polling
If you want to see how parties are polling, there are lots of places to find some of the results. But, one site promises to deliver all of the results and in English.
Knesset Insider publishes the results of polls as they become available. See the weekly “Poll of Polls,” which averages all polls over a given week, to get an overall feel for the trajectory of the parties.
