Jerusalem: Nearly 56 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots by 4 pm in the crucial elections Tuesday, the highest in Israel’s recorded history, as surveys predicted a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot.
Polling stations opened across the country at 7 am local time and are scheduled to close at 10 pm, allowing 7,331,981 eligible voters to exercise their franchise at 12,018 polling stations nationwide.
According to the Central Elections Committee, 55.7 per cent of voters had cast ballots by 4 p.m., up from 47.5 per cent at the same time in the 2022 election. It is the highest turnout ever recorded at this hour. Hourly figures have been measured since 1973.
Dean Livne, the acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, said more than 4 million voters have cast their ballots so far.
He said large cities with the highest voter turnout are Modiin (60.7 per cent), followed by Tel Aviv (50.5 per cent), Jerusalem (47.7 per cent) and Haifa (46.3 per cent), according to The Times of Israel.
“At many polling stations, there are lines. When you reach a high voter turnout, there will always be lines,” Livne said.
“We promise, everyone will vote. If there is a line at 10 p.m., the polling stations will continue to operate until everyone who arrived by 10 p.m. has voted. There is no need to worry,” he added.
According to the military, the voter turnout among Israeli soldiers stood at 68 per cent by 5 p.m. In the 2022 election, it was 65 per cent at this hour.
The soldiers began voting in the national election a week ago, with 850 polling stations deployed at military bases across the country and beyond Israel’s borders.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving premier, and his wife, Sara, cast their ballots at a polling station in Jerusalem, according to a statement released by his office.
Locked in the tight race, Netanyahu made a desperate plea to right-wing voters to “wake up” and go vote for his Likud party to avoid the formation of a ‘government of Arab parties’, in what looks like a repeat of his tested playbook from the 2015 elections.
Stoking fear among his supporters, Netanyahu, in a video to his Likud voters, warned that Arab voters in the south are “racing to the ballots.”
“You must go out and vote,” he said, stressing, “You also must race to the ballot.”
The official results will be announced November 4, while a broad indication of the election outcome is expected to emerge by Wednesday.
Several parties, including Eisenkot’s Yashar and Bennett’s B’Yachad, alleged irregularities, including missing or defaced ballot slips and other suspected attempts to interfere with voting, The Times of Israel reported.
However, the Central Elections Committee said there is no evidence of systematic tampering with ballot slips.
“Contrary to claims circulating online, there are currently no indications of systematic tampering with ballot slips,” the committee said, adding that individual reports are being addressed immediately.
Meanwhile, opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu’s Likud party and the opposition led by Eisenkot are competing in a close race, with neither side assured of the majority
in the 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu, 77, is seeking to retain power after three years of war and mounting demands for accountability over the October 7, 2023, attack.
Eisenkot, whose family has Moroccan Jewish roots, has emerged as a principal challenger, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett is leading a separate opposition alliance with Yair Lapid.
Eisenkot, 66, has drawn sympathy over personal losses during the war. His son and two nephews were killed while serving in the military during the conflict in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have participated in demonstrations over the government’s handling of the war and demands for accountability.
Netanyahu has resisted calls for an independent state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October attack.
US President Donald Trump publicly backed Netanyahu ahead of the election and issued a further endorsement on Sunday, urging Israelis to vote for him.
Arab citizens, who make up about 21 per cent of Israel’s population, could play a significant role in the post-election arithmetic. Their turnout could influence the balance between the competing political blocs.
Long lines and slow identification processes are reported in Arab communities.
Pollsters expect Arab turnout to rise to around 63 per cent, compared with about 53 per cent in 2022.
The Arab-led Joint List and Ra’am, headed by Mansour Abbas, are running separately. The Joint List brings together Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, while Ra’am is an independent Islamist party.
Although the parties are not contesting the election as a single list, their leaders have sought to increase Arab voters’ participation and influence over government formation.
Voter turnout in Israel’s 2022 elections was just above 70 per cent.
Pollsters believe it could reach as high as 87 per cent this time, with the Arabs participating in large numbers.
According to local media reports, around 80,000 Israelis living outside the country have returned in the last few days merely to vote in what some see as elections that would shape the country’s future.
Israel doesn’t allow votes from abroad, except from those serving in the diplomatic missions.
Among foreign service workers serving in embassies and consulates outside Israel, voter turnout was 90 per cent, much higher than the usual 70 per cent.
The outcome will depend not only on which party wins the most seats but also on whether either political camp can assemble a coalition with the support of at least 61 lawmakers.
The elections are being seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership largely.
Issues such as security, judicial overhaul, the secular-religious divide over national burden sharing, ethnicity, and the economy are at the forefront.
At a rally in Tel Aviv Saturday, protesters called for a state commission of inquiry into the security failures. Organisers said more than 100,000 people attended.
Major military failures have historically reshaped Israeli politics.
Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the ruling Labour-led Alignment and its allies lost power in 1977 for the first time in 29 years, paving the way for Likud’s rise under Menachem Begin and greater political representation for Mizrahi Jews.
Mizrahi generally refers to Jews of Middle Eastern and North African heritage, while Ashkenazi refers to Jews whose historical origins lie in Central and Eastern Europe.
The distinction has been an important feature of Israeli politics, particularly in the long-standing support for Likud among many Mizrahi voters, who have historically expressed grievances over discrimination and unequal treatment.
Likud has traditionally drawn considerable support from Mizrahi and traditional Jewish voters, even though many of its prominent leaders, including Netanyahu, have Ashkenazi backgrounds.
Another major issue is the divide between secular Israelis and the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community over military service.
Most Jewish Israeli men are subject to compulsory military service, but Haredi men studying in religious seminaries have historically received broad exemptions or deferments. The prolonged war has intensified resentment among sections of the public over the unequal burden of military service.
The military has faced manpower shortages, while reservists have been repeatedly called up for extended periods. At the same time, ultra-Orthodox parties have sought to preserve exemptions for religious seminary students and funding for their institutions.
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