JERUSALEM, October 27 (Aalimi Nation) – Israelis turned out in record numbers on Tuesday in a parliamentary election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Central Elections Committee reporting the highest participation at several points of the day in around 50 years.
According to the committee, 16.7 per cent of eligible voters had cast ballots by 10 am, against 15.9 per cent at the same hour in 2022. By noon the figure was 31.5 per cent, the highest at that time since 1977, and by 2 pm it reached 44.9 per cent, the highest at that hour since 1973.
By 4 pm, 55.7 per cent had voted, and by 6 pm the committee put turnout at 66.7 per cent, roughly nine percentage points above the 57.7 per cent recorded at the same stage in 2022. The committee said voters in line at the 10 pm closing time would still be allowed to vote, and issued guidelines to ease congestion, including streamlined identity checks.
Speaking after he voted, Netanyahu told reporters, "We know what is at stake." Hours after polls opened he urged his supporters to go to the polling stations, calling the vote "a fateful moment." Israeli President Isaac Herzog said of the election: "No one can be allowed to spoil or undermine it."
Netanyahu's Likud party is running neck and neck with Yashar, led by former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. The last opinion polls, as cited by three broadcasters, gave Eisenkot's presumed coalition a lead of about two to six seats, though neither bloc may reach a majority on its own.
The Knesset has 120 seats filled through proportional representation, so voters choose parties rather than individual candidates. A government needs the backing of at least 61 members, and no single party has ever won that many, meaning Israel has always been governed by coalitions. Parties must win at least 3.25 per cent of the votes cast to enter parliament, which works out to roughly 37,000 votes per seat.
Arab-led parties, including the Joint List and the United Arab List, could prove decisive in coalition arithmetic. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot have so far ruled out working with them, citing a lack of shared values. Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian-Israeli candidate, said Arab citizens were voting in "unprecedented" numbers.
The campaign has centred on the government's handling of the October 7, 2023 attacks and the wars that followed, exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox men, and Netanyahu's judicial overhaul efforts.
Polls were open from 7 am to 10 pm local time, and exit polls are expected shortly after voting ends. A clear winner is unlikely to be known on election night, according to the officials and analysts cited. The final tally is expected by October 30, with official results due to be published on November 4.
Once results are certified, Herzog will consult party leaders and ask one of them to try to form a government, with 42 days to do so. If no coalition emerges after repeated attempts, the current government would continue as a caretaker administration until another election is held.
