As Israel Votes Tuesday, Five Candidates With Bukharian Roots and Ties Appear on Five Party Lists for the 26th Knesset

This report was translated from Hebrew by Bukharian Jewish Post from a candidate feature by Dudi Ben Hamo, editor of the Bukharian community magazine Menora, published on Bucharim.com, and from Hebrew-language list filings and news reports cited below. Names are transliterated from the Hebrew and may be spelled differently elsewhere.

Israelis vote on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, for the 26th Knesset, and at least five candidates who either come from the Bukharian Jewish community or describe close ties to it appear on the ballot, each on a different party list. Ahead of the holidays, the Israeli Bukharian magazine Menora put the same set of questions to the five: who they are, why they are running, what they want to advance and how their Bukharian heritage shapes them. The feature, by editor Dudi Ben Hamo, was published on Bucharim.com on Sept. 30.

“The answers sketch a wide political spectrum, but also a clear common denominator,” Ben Hamo wrote: a wish “to preserve the roots, strengthen family and community and give the next generation a better future in the State of Israel.” Bukharian Jewish Post checked each candidate’s place against the lists filed with the Central Elections Committee.

Rabbi Yosef Elnatanov, No. 11, Shas

Elnatanov is No. 11 on the Shas list, according to the list the party filed in September, as reported by Ynet and Arutz Sheva and shown in the committee filing. Ynet described him as the representative of the Bukharian community, principal of the Beit Yosef Talmud Torah in Holon and rabbi of the Beit Asher VeMordechai synagogue in Tel Aviv’s Kiryat Shalom neighborhood.

According to Menora, his parents immigrated from Uzbekistan, from Tashkent and Bukhara, when they were young. He was born in Jerusalem, began his studies at the Tiferet Shlomo yeshiva in the city’s Bukharian Quarter and continued at the Porat Yosef yeshiva in the Old City. The magazine said he holds full rabbinical ordination, including as a city rabbi, and is also a rabbinical court advocate. His work has spanned Tel Aviv, Tel Kabir, Kiryat Shalom, the Shapira neighborhood, Or Yehuda and Holon. He now directs educational institutions with more than 600 students and started a program called “Nocham” for teenagers who struggle in regular frameworks.

“The Bukharian community is a rooted and traditional community. We must keep the ember alive, strengthen unity and work together for the future of our children and the State of Israel.” (Yosef Elnatanov, to Menora)

Yaniv Badalov, No. 15, Otzma Yehudit

Badalov, a lawyer, holds 15th place on Otzma Yehudit, the list headed by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to the Central Elections Committee. Menora reported that he is married with five children, has lived in Elad for 27 years and serves as the city’s deputy mayor. He is a reserve officer in the Israel Defense Forces and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law from Bar-Ilan University.

He told the magazine that his platform rests on personal security and governance, stronger local authorities and Jewish national identity. He said he wants to keep strengthening the Israel Police, expand local emergency response squads and municipal guard units, and move government funds directly to local authorities. He said Bukharian heritage serves him as “a moral compass.”

“We have a glorious heritage, enormous drive and wonderful qualities in every field of life. The time has come for us to take an active and central part in the national leadership.” (Yaniv Badalov, to Menora)

Adi Mordechayev, No. 23, Yisrael Beytenu

Mordechayev, 41, a lawyer from Ramla, is No. 23 on Yisrael Beytenu, the list headed by Avigdor Liberman. The committee filing lists him as Eduard Mordukhaev. He is Ramla’s deputy mayor and joined Yisrael Beytenu in July 2026 after serving on the city council for New Hope, the party said at the time.

Menora reported that he is married to Maayan and has three children. He holds a law degree from Ono Academic College and a business administration degree from the Peres Academic Center, and runs his own law office. He chairs a two-seat faction on the Ramla council, holds the community security and culture portfolios, and sits on the boards of the Ramla economic development company and of the “Chavayot” community center network in Rehovot. His priorities, he said, include cutting bureaucracy and moving government services online, investment in the periphery, more transparency in welfare committees, and teaching the heritage of Eastern Jewish communities, Bukharian Jewry among them, in schools. He called Bukharian heritage “the landscape of my homeland.”

“To members of the community I say: the time has come to move from a position of integration to active leadership.” (Adi Mordechayev, to Menora)

Yiska Haimov, Noam

Haimov, of Sha’arei Tikva, is running for Noam, the party led by MK Avi Maoz. Menora described her as fourth on the list. In the list filed with the Central Elections Committee, she appears fifth. Kikar HaShabbat reported when she joined the party in August that she is the sister of Shin Bet chief David Zini, a business and organizational consultant, and a former director of the religious communities of Einav and Shavei Shomron.

Haimov is not herself of Bukharian origin. She told Menora that her mother’s family is of Moroccan origin and her father’s is Algerian, while her husband, Shai, a police officer, comes from a family that is half Bukharian and half Yemenite. She said that years living in Holon’s Tel Giborim neighborhood strengthened her ties to the Bukharian community there.

“Don’t leave the roots with grandpa and grandma. Get to know them, be proud of them, and draw from them strength and responsibility to build the Israel of the next generation.” (Yiska Haimov, to Menora)

Zhanna Cohen, No. 45, Beyachad

Cohen is No. 45 on Beyachad (“Together”), the list headed by Naftali Bennett, according to the committee filing. Menora reported that she is a former member of the Or Yehuda city council, has been active in public life since 2003, and now heads the World Union of Bukhara Immigrants. She told the magazine her priorities include lowering the cost of living, clear waiting times for specialist doctors, and graduated subsidies for day care for children under three with a cap of up to 800 shekels a month per child.

“The citizen does not meet the government in Jerusalem. He meets the state in the city where he lives.” (Zhanna Cohen, to Menora)

Different parties, shared themes

The five run for parties that differ widely on policy, religion and the makeup of the next government. In Menora’s survey, all of them named family, tradition, education and community responsibility as core values. Ben Hamo wrote that the community’s members will have to decide, “like all citizens of Israel,” which path represents them best.

Sources: Bucharim.com / Menora, Dudi Ben Hamo, “The Bukharian voice in the Knesset elections” (Sept. 30, 2026, in Hebrew); Ynet, Shas list report (in Hebrew); Arutz Sheva / INN, Shas list (Sept. 8, 2026, in Hebrew); Central Elections Committee candidate lists as published by the Israel Democracy Institute: Shas, Yisrael Beytenu, Noam, Beyachad; Central Elections Committee, Otzma Yehudit list page; Kikar HaShabbat, Yoni Gabay (Aug. 23, 2026, in Hebrew); Yisrael Beytenu party site (July 1, 2026, in Hebrew).