As millions of Israelis head to the polls, families are making the most of election day, which is a public holiday across the country.
Many are visiting leisure spots before or after voting, while local authorities have organised activities for children.
Voter turnout in Israel’s general election has reached 44.9 percent as of 2pm, the highest recorded at that hour since at least 1973.
According to the Central Elections Committee, at least three million Israelis have now cast their ballots, up from 31.5 percent turnout at noon.
The latest figure is also significantly higher than the 38.9 percent recorded at the same time in the 2022 election.
A 94-year-old Israeli man has died after returning from a polling station in Ramat Gan.
Israel Kreis had insisted on going out to vote for Gadi Eisenkot, his daughter Shirley told Ynet.
“I took him by car to vote, and on the way back, as soon as he got out of the car, he collapsed and died at the entrance to the building,” she said.
Families of those killed or taken hostage on October 7 gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv this morning, urging Israelis to vote in memory of those who no longer can.
The families held a minute’s silence at 6.29am, the time the Hamas attacks began in 2023, before calling for a change of government and an independent state inquiry into the attacks.
“On 7 October, that cursed day, the State of Israel abandoned our beloved son Ron,” said Sigal Yehudai, whose son was murdered at the Nova music festival.
Meanwhile, Ruby Chen, father of slain Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen, was confronted outside a polling station in Netanya, where a voter repeatedly called him a “traitor” as he held a photograph of his son.
Czech politician Andrej Babiš has praised his country’s close relationship with Israel and wished Israelis well as they head to the polls.
In a post on X addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Babiš said he valued their dialogue and the longstanding friendship between the two countries.
“I sincerely wish peace, security and a better future for the people of Israel,” he wrote.
He also expressed hope that Israel would continue to be led by a “strong leader”, adding that Czechia’s friendship with Israel would continue “no matter who is in power”.
Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of making unfounded claims about election fraud to prepare for a possible challenge to the results.
“Netanyahu is panicking and has begun making up stories and claiming that the election is being stolen. This is no accident. He is already laying the groundwork to challenge the election results,” the party said in a statement.
The accusation follows repeated claims by Netanyahu that his opponents are trying to “steal the election”, without providing evidence.
Yashar called for a decisive victory over Likud, saying the margin must be large enough to leave no room for disputes over the outcome.
Voter turnout among Israeli soldiers has now reached 48 per cent as of 1pm, up from 30 per cent at 10am, according to the IDF.
The latest figure is also higher than the 44.4 per cent recorded at the same time in the 2022 election.
Soldiers began voting a week ago, with 850 polling stations set up at military bases across Israel and beyond its borders.
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot has cast his ballot in Herzliya alongside his wife, Hannah, and other family members.
Supporters greeted him with chants of “Who’s coming? The next prime minister!” and “Gadi, Gadi, Gadi!”
Others in the crowd chanted “Bibi, Bibi, Bibi,” referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We are setting Israel on a new path,” Eisenkot said after voting. “We will be worthy of your trust. I promise.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has praised Israel’s democratic system as the country votes in its general election.
In an election day post, Huckabee highlighted Israel’s voting rules, describing the process as “contentious”.
“All voting is in person; ID required. No mail-in or absentee ballots. Arabs vote same as Israelis,” he wrote.
Huckabee also described Israel as one of the few democracies in the region.
As Israelis head to the polls today in what many see as one of the most consequential elections in the country’s history, the Arab vote could prove crucial to the composition of the next government. The current estimates predict that more than 60 per cent of the Arab voters will participate in the current elections; in the 2022 elections, for reference, only 53.2 percent voted.
Representing roughly a fifth of Israel’s population, Arab citizens have the theoretical electoral weight of about 20 seats in the 120-member Knesset. With the election expected to be closely contested, their turnout could significantly affect the balance of power between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Right-wing bloc and the opposition parties’ so-called the ‘change bloc’, seeking to replace him.
Concerns over rising violent crime, personal security, successive wars, economy and deteriorating Jewish-Arab relations have prompted Arab civil-society organisations to mobilise voters across the country.
Yet despite Arab candidates standing – from left to hard-right – on most of the Jewish-led party lists across the political spectrum, much of the Jewish political establishment remains reluctant to cooperate with non-Zionist Arab parties, particularly in the aftermath of 7 October.
Nevertheless, Ra’am, the Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas, is seeking to join the next governing coalition, having made history in 2021 as the first independent Arab party to enter an Israeli government. The party, whose list now includes number 2 the Jewish and Zionist former senior police officer Yoav Segalovitz, has expressed a preference for a government led by the opposition.
The Joint List, an alliance of Arab Left-wing and Palestinian nationalist parties, has also indicated its willingness to support an alternative government from outside the coalition, subject to political conditions.
Such an arrangement would echo the 1990s, when Arab parties provided parliamentary backing to Yitzhak Rabin’s government without formally joining it, helping sustain his government during the Oslo peace process.
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