Israelis are voting Tuesday in a closely contested parliamentary election that could determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power after nearly four years marked by war, domestic political turmoil and disputes over military conscription.
More than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote in the election for the 120-seat Knesset. Turnout reached 31.5% by noon, the highest recorded at that point in the day since the 1973 election, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
Netanyahu’s Likud faces its strongest challenge from Yashar, led by former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Final pre-election polling showed a tight contest between the Netanyahu-aligned bloc and opposition parties, with neither side assured of the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority.
The election is Israel’s first national vote since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and the conflicts that followed. Security remains central to the campaign, but voters are also weighing the cost of living, the future of the judiciary, exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox men and Israel’s international position after years of fighting.
For Netanyahu, the vote also carries unusually high personal stakes. His opponents have sought to make the failures surrounding October 7 a central election issue, while his supporters argue that his government has successfully navigated a prolonged period of regional conflict.
Eisenkot, who served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, has presented himself as an alternative drawn from Israel’s security establishment rather than as a sharp departure from the country’s broader military policy.
Turnout among Israel’s Arab citizens is being closely watched because the performance of Arab-majority parties could affect whether either political bloc has a viable route to forming a government.
Polling before election day suggested Arab turnout could rise significantly compared with 2022, with Arab parties potentially holding enough seats to influence the coalition arithmetic even if they remain outside a future government.
Netanyahu and several of his political allies responded to reports of high Arab turnout by urging right-wing voters to head to polling stations.
The prime minister alleged on Tuesday that opponents were attempting to “steal” the election as Arab voters turned out in large numbers. Israel’s Central Elections Committee has reported no evidence of systematic vote manipulation, and the allegation has not been substantiated.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich similarly attributed the high national turnout to Arab communities and left-wing areas, although the nationwide figures available at the time did not establish which communities were responsible for the increase.
Election day was also marked by a security incident involving Democrats leader Yair Golan.
Police detained a man carrying a knife near Golan during a voter-mobilization event at Park HaMesila in Tel Aviv. Golan’s party initially said the suspect had approached him in a threatening manner and was stopped by his security detail.
Police later stressed that there had been no attempted stabbing, saying officers noticed a suspicious object beneath the man's clothing, searched him and discovered the knife. The suspect, a Jerusalem resident in his twenties, was taken for questioning.
That clarification is important because early reports described the incident more strongly than the police account supports.
Israel uses nationwide proportional representation, meaning voters elect party lists rather than choosing the prime minister directly. The task of forming a government begins after the votes are counted, when parties attempt to assemble a coalition controlling at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
No single party is expected to approach that threshold on its own.
Pre-election polling has therefore placed considerable attention on smaller parties, including Arab factions, ultra-Orthodox parties and right-wing lists hovering near the 3.25% electoral threshold. A party narrowly failing to enter parliament could shift several seats between the competing blocs.
Polling stations are scheduled to close at 10 p.m. local time. The Central Elections Committee has said stations will remain open where voters who arrived before the deadline are still waiting in line, which could delay the publication of television exit polls.
Even once the results become clearer, the identity of Israel’s next prime minister may depend less on which party finishes first than on which leader can assemble a workable parliamentary majority.