Israeli Elections

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Israeli election turnout highest in decades as Netanyahu fights to keep power​


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• Crucial election: Turnout in the first few hours of voting in Israel’s election remains at the highest levels in more than 50 years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast his ballot in an important election seen as a referendum on his leadership since the October 7, 2023 attacks.

• Key timings: Polls will close at 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET). Opinion polls suggest the race will be too close to call, with Netanyahu in a tight race against Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief.

• Main issues: Security and accountability are powerful electoral forces after years of war. Opinion polls suggest the economy and cost of living are also leading concerns for many voters.

• Parliamentary make-up: No single party has ever won a 61-seat majority in Israel’s 120-member parliament, or Knesset. Instead, governments are formed through alliances, which can take weeks or even months to form.
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Turnout so far is at record levels, as Israelis vote in what many view as one of the most pivotal elections in the country's history.

Polling published on Friday suggests incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu is almost neck-and-neck with former military chief Gadi Eisenkot in the race to become prime minister.

But neither of their political blocs are projected to win the 61 seats needed to form a majority government - meaning weeks or months of political wrangling may lie ahead.

The campaign has been shaped by the issues of democracy and security, and the election is widely being seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's rule.

Many leading parties complained on Tuesday morning of alleged irregularities at polling stations across the country - but Israel's Central Election Committee (CEC) says there is no evidence of systematic tampering with ballot slips.

Israel's proportional representation system means governments have always been coalitions - and the race to power can, and has, produced unexpected alliances. But this election looks especially tight - and lines in the sand have already been drawn.

Eisenkot, who leads the newly formed Yashar Party, is the main figure in the so-called "change bloc", a collection of parties who have ideological differences but share the goal of ousting Netanyahu.

Other leaders in the bloc include former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman - both right-wingers who take hardline positions on security - and Yair Golan, a left-leaning former general.

For Netanyahu, a titan of Israeli politics who first served as prime minister in 1996, a return to power will hinge on another alliance with the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties that make up his current governing coalition - the most right-wing in Israel's history.
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www.bbc.com

Turnout so far highest on record as Israelis vote in pivotal election

The elections - the first since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the wars which followed - are widely seen as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
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