For 2026, 46 of the 120 members are freshmen.
In 2022, there were just 23 Knesset freshmen.
Yet back in the prior election of 2019, that was when 49 freshmen were elected to Knesset seats.
Other notable freshmen include:
Shira Shapiro, 10th on Yashar’s party list, is the mother of Aner Shapiro who tossed seven live Hamas grenades out of the bomb shelter near Nova party before he was killed by the eighth grenade. Aner was an unarmed off-duty soldier, age 22. His mother Shira has previously worked as urban planner and deputy director general at Heritage Ministry.
#1 on Yashar’s list, Gadi Eisenkot, while not a freshman, lost his son Gal and two of his nephews in battle since Oct 7. Previously, Eisenkot has a long military career.
Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party welcomes several freshmen including their #2, Rafi Ben Shitrit, former mayor of Beit She’an and co-founder of the October Council.
B’Yachad party (Bennet with Lapid) welcomed freshman Yonatan Shalev as the Kenesset’s youngest-ever Member, who co-founded the Shoulder to Shoulder movement.
Democrats’ party has its #5 seat for Yair “Yaya” Fink, who has served more than 210 days in army reserve duty since Oct 7.
The Religious Zionism party (with Bezalel Smotrich at #1) brings in freshman Tzvika Mor at the #5 seat, leader of the Tikva Forum, and father of Eitan Mor who was captive in Gaza for 738 days.
For more, see the linked article in the footnote.
Other parties such as Joint List (Arab citizens), Ra’am, Otzma Yehudit, and Shas, do not have direct connections to the battles of Oct 7.
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Source: Times of Israel, 10 Nov 2026. https://www.timesofisrael.com/crop-of-knesset-newcomers-bring-october-7-traumas-battle-scars-into-halls-of-power/
