Israel Votes Three Years into Genocide: Everything to Know About Election Day
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Israelis are voting in a closely contested election shaped by war, coalition deadlock and disputes over Palestinian participation and rights.
Key Takeaways
- More than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to elect the 120-member Knesset, with neither major bloc assured of a governing majority.
- Palestinian citizens of Israel can vote, while millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation cannot participate in choosing the government.
- Haaretz reported that Likud plans to film Arab voters outside polling stations, amid discussions about alleging electoral fraud if it loses.
Who is Voting and Who is Excluded?
Voting opened Tuesday in Israel’s parliamentary election, the first general vote since the start of its genocide in Gaza in October 2023 and the subsequent wars across the region.
According to the Central Elections Committee, 7,331,981 people are eligible to vote across 12,018 polling stations. Approximately 18,000 ballot boxes have been prepared, with around 100,000 election workers deployed, Anadolu news agency reported.
Most polling stations opened at 7 am local time and will close at 10 pm. Voters still waiting in line at closing time will be allowed to cast their ballots, according to Al Jazeera. Election Day is a public holiday.
Thirty-seven parties and electoral lists are competing for the Knesset’s 120 seats. Quds News Network reported that recent polls suggest approximately 13 lists could cross the electoral threshold.
The electorate includes Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel. It also includes adult illegal Israeli Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control, however, have no vote in the election.
Al-Jazeera reported that approximately three million adult Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem cannot participate in choosing the government that exercises control over their borders, movement and legal circumstances.
Most Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem hold residency status rather than Israeli citizenship. They can vote in Jerusalem municipal elections but cannot vote for the Knesset.
In the occupied West Bank, illegal settlers can participate in national elections while neighboring Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation cannot.
Most Israeli citizens abroad also cannot cast absentee ballots. Exceptions apply to diplomats and certain state representatives. According to the Central Elections Committee figures cited by Anadolu, 4,218 people voted at polling stations established at 99 diplomatic missions on October 15–16.
The election takes place amid continuing Israeli attacks in Gaza, military offensives elsewhere in the region and escalating attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Who is Competing, and What is at Stake?
The central contest pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing bloc against opposition parties led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party is competing with Likud to become the largest party.
Other major contenders include the Together alliance led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, alongside Yair Lapid; the Democrats, led by Yair Golan; and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu.
Netanyahu’s allies include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism and the ultra-Orthodox parties.
The Arab lists include the Joint List, headed by Yousef Jabareen, and the United Arab List, or Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas.
Al-Jazeera reported that the Supreme Court overturned attempts to disqualify both Arab lists on October 2, finding that the evidence did not meet the legal requirements. Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the National Democratic Assembly, withdrew after the court indicated that a majority of judges would support barring his candidacy.
Arab parties could influence the parliamentary balance, but most leaders of the Jewish opposition bloc have ruled out forming a governing alliance with them.
The contest between Netanyahu and Eisenkot also does not represent a choice between support for and opposition to Palestinian statehood: both reject the establishment of a Palestinian state, Anadolu reported.
Netanyahu is seeking to remain in office while facing a domestic corruption trial involving bribery, fraud and breach of trust, charges he denies. He also faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s war on Gaza.
His current government, in office since December 2022, has been widely described as the most far-right in Israel’s history.
Several issues dominate the campaign. One is the continuing absence of an official commission of inquiry into the security failures surrounding October 7, 2023. Another is the dispute over military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, with critics arguing that the exemptions impose an unequal burden on other Israelis.
Netanyahu’s efforts to restrict the Supreme Court’s powers remain divisive, as do the costs and outcomes of Israel’s wars. Al Jazeera reported that the defense budget has doubled since 2023, adding pressure to public finances amid concerns over prices and wages.
Opposition leaders urged high turnout Tuesday. Lieberman called for an end to Netanyahu’s political era, while Eisenkot argued that replacing him depended on Yashar becoming the largest party.
“There is only one path to achieving change and replacing Netanyahu, and that is the Yashar path,” Eisenkot wrote on X, according to Anadolu.
Democrats lawmaker Gilad Kariv warned that Netanyahu’s allies would circulate misleading claims during voting.
“In the coming hours, Netanyahu and his associates will flood you with fake news and misleading messages in an attempt to undermine the elections by spreading lies and illusions,” he said. “Our response must be a massive turnout at the polls.”
Arab Voter Surveillance, Counting and Coalition Scenarios
Concerns over the treatment of Arab voters intensified after the Isreali newspaper Haaretz reported that Likud planned to deploy paid teams outside polling stations in Arab towns to film voters and report developments to party headquarters in real time.
According to Anadolu’s account of the report, Likud spent millions of shekels recruiting workers for the initiative.
By operating outside polling stations rather than inside them, the teams would avoid the strict rules governing official election observers, Haaretz reported.
The newspaper also said senior Likud officials had discussed alleging that the election was rigged if the party suffered substantial losses. Sources close to Netanyahu said he was considering the proposal, although the report found no evidence that he personally attended meetings where it was discussed.
A senior Likud official involved in election operations described allegations concerning the previous election as groundwork for the current vote.
“2022 was a trial run for the current election,” the official said.
Likud sources indicated that recordings could be circulated as purported evidence of fraud, even though the teams have no legal authority to verify voters’ identities.
Separately, police announced the deployment of 20,000 officers, including uniformed and undercover personnel, at polling locations and surrounding areas. Police said the deployment was intended to protect voters, prevent disruption and maintain public order.
Once ballots are cast, the determining question will be which parties can assemble a parliamentary majority.
Israelis vote for party lists rather than directly electing a prime minister. Parties must receive at least 3.25% of valid votes to enter the Knesset, with seats allocated broadly according to their national vote share.
Forming a governing coalition requires the support of at least 61 of the 120 lawmakers. Finishing first does not automatically give a party leader the premiership.
Recent polls suggest that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition parties will independently reach that threshold, raising the possibility of prolonged negotiations, a unity government or another election.
Counting begins after polling stations close at 10 pm, when television networks are expected to release exit polls. Those projections will provide an initial picture rather than a final result.
Initial results are expected overnight and into Wednesday. The Central Elections Committee is scheduled to publish official results by November 4.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to begin consultations with elected parties approximately a week after the vote before selecting a lawmaker to attempt to form a government.
The designated candidate normally receives 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to negotiate a coalition. Failure to assemble a government can ultimately lead to another election.
Tuesday’s vote is Israel’s sixth general election since 2019. According to the Central Elections Committee accounts cited by Anadolu and QNN, it is the first since 1988 held after completion of a full four-year parliamentary term.
Whatever the immediate outcome, Netanyahu remains head of a caretaker government until a new government is sworn in.
