Israel Votes: 7.3M Eligible as Netanyahu Faces Tight Race
(MENAFN) Voting got under way Tuesday in Israel’s parliamentary elections, with more than 7.3 million citizens eligible to choose the 120-member Knesset in a contest too close to call.
Polls opened at 7 am local time (0500GMT) and will close at 10 pm (2000GMT), according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee, a government electoral body. The committee counts 7,331,981 eligible voters.
The race pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing bloc against an opposition bloc led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. Recent opinion polls suggest neither side may reach the 61 seats needed to form a government. Israeli television networks anticipate high turnout.
By the numbers
Thirty-seven parties and electoral lists are competing. Authorities have readied 12,018 polling stations and roughly 18,000 ballot boxes nationwide, with about 100,000 election workers deployed. Israeli police have also put 20,000 officers on the streets, both uniformed and undercover, to protect voters and safeguard the process.
Who is running
The main contenders are Netanyahu’s Likud, Eisenkot’s Yashar and the Together alliance led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Other prominent parties include the Democrats under Yair Golan, Yisrael Beiteinu under Avigdor Lieberman and Jewish Power under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The Arab parties are the Joint List, headed by Yousef Jabareen, and the United Arab List (Ra’am), led by Mansour Abbas.
A historic vote
This is the first Israeli election since 1988 to be held on schedule after a full four-year parliamentary term. Israeli law sets elections every four years, though the Knesset can dissolve itself earlier with the backing of at least 61 members. A failure to form a government or pass the state budget within the legal deadline can also trigger early polls.
It is also the country’s first general election since the start of what the source report calls a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The vote comes amid Israeli military offensives against Lebanon, Iran and Yemen, continued occupation of parts of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, and escalating attacks by illegal Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank, the report said.
Netanyahu’s future on the line
The result is seen as pivotal for the 76-year-old Netanyahu, who has led Israel’s right-wing government since late December 2022, widely described as the most far-right in the country’s history. He is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, charges that could bring imprisonment if he is convicted. He also faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.
Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot oppose Palestinian statehood, despite UN resolutions backing a two-state solution.
What happens next
Netanyahu is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon at a West Jerusalem school, according to the prime minister’s office, while Eisenkot will vote at a school in Herzliya after touring several polling stations. Israeli television channels are expected to release exit polls once polls close at 10 pm, with initial results emerging overnight and official results due by Nov. 4. President Isaac Herzog is expected to begin consultations with elected parties a week after the vote to decide who will be tasked with forming the government.
Overseas, 4,218 Israelis voted early at 101 polling stations in 99 diplomatic missions on Oct. 15–16, a turnout of 86.7% among the 4,863 eligible voters abroad, per the Central Elections Committee.
Polls opened at 7 am local time (0500GMT) and will close at 10 pm (2000GMT), according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee, a government electoral body. The committee counts 7,331,981 eligible voters.
The race pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing bloc against an opposition bloc led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. Recent opinion polls suggest neither side may reach the 61 seats needed to form a government. Israeli television networks anticipate high turnout.
By the numbers
Thirty-seven parties and electoral lists are competing. Authorities have readied 12,018 polling stations and roughly 18,000 ballot boxes nationwide, with about 100,000 election workers deployed. Israeli police have also put 20,000 officers on the streets, both uniformed and undercover, to protect voters and safeguard the process.
Who is running
The main contenders are Netanyahu’s Likud, Eisenkot’s Yashar and the Together alliance led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Other prominent parties include the Democrats under Yair Golan, Yisrael Beiteinu under Avigdor Lieberman and Jewish Power under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The Arab parties are the Joint List, headed by Yousef Jabareen, and the United Arab List (Ra’am), led by Mansour Abbas.
A historic vote
This is the first Israeli election since 1988 to be held on schedule after a full four-year parliamentary term. Israeli law sets elections every four years, though the Knesset can dissolve itself earlier with the backing of at least 61 members. A failure to form a government or pass the state budget within the legal deadline can also trigger early polls.
It is also the country’s first general election since the start of what the source report calls a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The vote comes amid Israeli military offensives against Lebanon, Iran and Yemen, continued occupation of parts of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, and escalating attacks by illegal Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank, the report said.
Netanyahu’s future on the line
The result is seen as pivotal for the 76-year-old Netanyahu, who has led Israel’s right-wing government since late December 2022, widely described as the most far-right in the country’s history. He is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, charges that could bring imprisonment if he is convicted. He also faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.
Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot oppose Palestinian statehood, despite UN resolutions backing a two-state solution.
What happens next
Netanyahu is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon at a West Jerusalem school, according to the prime minister’s office, while Eisenkot will vote at a school in Herzliya after touring several polling stations. Israeli television channels are expected to release exit polls once polls close at 10 pm, with initial results emerging overnight and official results due by Nov. 4. President Isaac Herzog is expected to begin consultations with elected parties a week after the vote to decide who will be tasked with forming the government.
Overseas, 4,218 Israelis voted early at 101 polling stations in 99 diplomatic missions on Oct. 15–16, a turnout of 86.7% among the 4,863 eligible voters abroad, per the Central Elections Committee.
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