Local Israeli elections can offer a glimpse into the political mood.

Israel will hold local elections on Tuesday, the first time voters will go to the polls since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks and the war in Gaza reshaped Israeli society and put security at the top of the national agenda.

People across the country will elect municipal and regional officials responsible for things like education, waste management and park cleaning. The vote is postponed until October 31 due to the war. Results aren’t expected for a few days as absentee ballots need to be counted.

Although the election will not be a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who polls show is historically unpopular — more candidates than in previous elections are choosing not to advertise connections to his party, Likud, said Ariel Finkelstein, a researcher at the Jerusalem Post . the nonpartisan Israel Democracy Institute, which could be a sign of his waning support.

“What worries Israelis most today is personal security,” Mr. Finkelstein said. While the responsibility for security lies with the national government, the candidates have responded to the national situation by campaigning on security issues, he said.

The focus on security is a marked shift from before the war, when Israel was gripped by a political and legal crisis over Mr. Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the justice system in ways that would weaken the country’s Supreme Court.

Many leaders of the protest movement who fought against the reform planned to run for municipal elections, Mr. Finkelstein said. While he estimated that these candidates were still active in about 20 of the 242 local government units holding elections today, he said the issues had changed.

Protests against Mr Netanyahu have only recently gained momentum following a lull in large-scale demonstrations after October 7. poll conducted in late January by the Israel Democracy Institute, a majority of respondents said they wanted national elections to be held earlier than the scheduled date in about three years.

Mr Netanyahu has opposed the idea of ​​holding national elections during a war. Ben-Dror Yemini, columnist for the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, wrote Tuesday that the local elections showed that it was not necessary to wait before holding a national vote.

An additional reminder of the changes since October 7 is that parts of the country near the borders with Lebanon and Gaza will not vote until November. Most people living near Gaza have not returned to their homes since the attack, and areas near Lebanon have been evacuated as cross-border conflict with the armed group Hezbollah has escalated.