About 50 Knesset members expected to be left out: The next Knesset is changing its face

About fifty incumbent Knesset members are expected not to return to the parliament after the upcoming elections, according to estimates based on polls, primary results, and resignation announcements already made. This is a turnover of a very high number of Knesset members, which is expected to inject new blood into the political system, but also some that is inexperienced. Only the 19th Knesset and the 21st Knesset showed similar numbers of 48 and 49 new Knesset members who entered the parliament after the elections.

It could be said that this is a response to the public sentiment after October 7, which sought to see new people, but the dramatic changes are expected mainly in the opposition parties that are renewing their faces, alongside new parties running. While the coalition parties are the ones where the least movement was recorded. The ultra-Orthodox parties are almost unchanged, the Religious Zionism party as well, at least for now, except for Likud, where the primary results along with the polls predict that half of its members will not be in realistic spots.

The meaning

The 26th Knesset is expected to look significantly different from the current one, with a wave of veteran parliamentarians ending their political path, alongside a series of new faces. One of the main focuses of the upheaval is, of course, Likud.

The primary results marked the way out for veteran figures alongside relatively new Knesset members, alongside the reserved spots that Netanyahu is expected to present in realistic places, which left out of the next Knesset, according to current polls, figures like Idit Silman, May Golan, Ariel Kallner, Hanoch Milwidsky, Avi Dichter, Keti Shitrit, Nissim Vaturi, and Osher Shkalim. If Likud receives more mandates than in the current forecast in the polls, we will see Nir Barkat, Amit Halevi, and others return inside.

Alongside the primary results in Likud, in Yesh Atid, as we revealed this week, Yair Lapid is changing the list without the constraints of registered members and is trying to present a relatively young list that can compete with the new lists in the bloc. While Naor Shiri, Vladimir Beliak, Merav Cohen, and Merav Ben-Ari are expected to keep realistic spots, a series of veteran MKs from the founders of Yesh Atid alongside Lapid received messages that their place on the list is not guaranteed. In order not to embarrass those leaving, they announced it themselves, some received consolation placements in anonymous party institutions like Mickey Levy and Meir Cohen.

Others resigned without compensation like Debi Biton, Elazar Stern, Ron Katz, and others who will yet announce their steps in the coming days. Lapid seeks to reshape Yesh Atid on its relative share in the party together with Bennett, as his partner in leadership will also present a new team next Sunday. A day later it will be Gadi Eisenkot who will present his wares, part of which consists of MKs who resigned and are serving, and part new. The one who remains relatively in the shadows is Avigdor Lieberman, who has not yet announced to his Knesset members who will continue with him to the next Knesset after new candidates are expected to conquer most of the top ten.

While the ultra-Orthodox parties, as mentioned, will keep most of their members, in Religious Zionism, two have already announced that they will not run in the elections for the next Knesset: Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer and MK Moshe Solomon, while MK Michal Woldiger was placed in a spot that is not realistic at the moment in the polls. Let us not forget the New Hope party, whose head is embedded in Likud while his party members are doubtful if they will enter the next Knesset. For example, MK Sharren Haskel is also launching a party next week that does not show feasible numbers at all.

And finally, Blue and White of Benny Gantz, which suffered two connections-disconnections with Yoaz Hendel and Yuli Edelstein - which also led it to stagnate in the polls. The expected result (at least for now) - Gantz, Tamano-Shata, and Biton, among the more familiar names in the Knesset, will not serve in the one that will be elected. The broader meaning is that the 26th Knesset may be one of the newest Knessets in terms of its human composition.

Part of the turnover is a natural result of an election campaign in which parties compete again for their power, but this time structural changes within the parties, especially competitive primaries, connections between parties, and the entry of new candidates are added to this.

If the current estimates materialize, dozens of incumbent MKs will vacate their seats, and a new generation of parliamentarians will enter in their place. Whether it is a result of October 7 (like the growth of the parties of Ofer Winter and Gadi Eisenkot) or a need to refresh the ranks in a system perceived by the public as corrupt, aging, and alienating - the new Knesset members will have to work hard to earn the trust in them. We can only hope that they will leave the shouting, the style, and the extremism outside the 26th Knesset.

The full list of 50 MKs who are not expected to enter the next Knesset:

1. Galit Distel-Atbarian

2. Nissim Vaturi

3. Shalom Danino

4. Eli Dallal

5. May Golan

6. Ariel Kallner

7. Hanoch Milwidsky

8. Tsega Melaku

9. Gila Gamliel

10. Osher Shkalim

11. Moshe Passal

12. Keti Shitrit

13. Eliyahu Revivo

14. Avichay Buaron

15. Afif Abed

16. Sasson Guetta

17. Debi Biton

18. Simon Davidson

19. Oz Chaim

20. Ron Katz

21. Yaron Levy

22. Tatiana Mazarsky

23. Shelly Tal Meron

24. Adi Azuz

25. Yasmin Fridman

26. Matti Tzarfati Harkabi

27. Michal Shir Segman

28. Yaakov Margi

29. Yael Ron Ben Moshe

30. Michal Woldiger

31. Moshe Solomon

32. Ofir Sofer

33. Ayman Odeh

34. Aida Touma-Sliman

35. Merav Michaeli

36. Ze'ev Elkin

37. Sharren Haskel

38. Akram Hasson

39. Avi Maoz

40. Sharon Nir

41. Mickey Levy

42. Meir Cohen

43. Alon Schuster

44. Yuli Edelstein

45. Michel Buskila

46. Michael Biton

47. Moshe Arbel

48. Avi Dichter

49. Pnina Tamano-Shata

50. Benny Gantz