Israel election on track for record turnout as Benjamin Netanyahu attacks Arab parties

LAST UPDATE | 27 Oct

A DEEPLY DIVIDED Israel is voting for the first time since Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, with Israelis delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s rightward drift.

By lunchtime on Tuesday, turnout was at the highest level on record at the midway point, according to the Central Elections Commission said.

As of 2pm there, 3.29 million Israelis, or 44.9% of eligible voters, had cast a ballot, the highest turnout since the commission started recording such statistics in 1973, its head Dean Livne said.

Israelis are casting their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by the October 2023 attack, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign.

The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.

This afternoon, Netanyahu renewed his attacks on Arab parties, warning after casting his ballot that “they’re trying to steal the election” after reports that individuals were arrested with envelopes of cash.

He said three senior officials of the Raam party had been arrested with envelopes full of cash in the south.

“We cannot leave this battle here in the hands of the left and the Arab parties that want to bring an end to the Jewish state,” Netanyahu said. “So no barbecues, don’t go to the beach — go to the polling station and vote Likud.”

Despite being a relatively small party, Raam could play a decisive role in forming an opposition-led coalition if election results are as close as expected.

The party did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar (Straight) party, visits a polling station Alamy Stock Photo

The last polls to be published showed Netanyahu running neck and neck with his main centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot, a political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent.

Eisenkot today accused the premier of “laying the groundwork to challenge the results”.

“We have to be ahead of Likud by a huge margin; only then will there be no room to sow doubt,” the Yashar party said.

Police confirmed three people had been arrested overnight on suspicion of trying to buy votes for Raam.

Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, with more than half a million young people due to cast their ballot for the first time. Surveys show they overwhelmingly identify as centre-right or right-wing.

Displaced Palestinian children among destroyed tents in Gaza City Alamy Stock Photo

Netanyahu (77) has served as Israel’s prime minister on and off for more than 19 years.

The wily political operator focused heavily on his security credentials during his campaign, playing on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and insisting he is the only one who can keep Israelis safe.

In the years since 7 October, Netanyahu has led multiple wars that have seen Israeli forces reduce Gaza to rubble, occupy southern Lebanon and for the first time pummel arch-foe Iran with US help.

At home, Israelis have faced bombardment from Iran, Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

‘Not afraid to take action’ 

Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022, bringing into his coalition far-right ultra-nationalists who have since seen their political clout skyrocket.

The opposition has scorned the premier for his backing of ultra-Orthodox parties fighting to keep exemptions for religious Jewish students from drafting into the military, which faces personnel shortages.

But one of the biggest criticisms levelled at Netanyahu is his failure to take responsibility for the 7 October attack, the deadliest day in the country’s history.

Eisenkot (66) has pledged to establish an independent state commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the attack, something Netanyahu’s government has resisted.

Seeking to unseat the premier is an informal bloc of parties led by Eisenkot’s Yashar and spanning from the right to the centre-left.

Eisenkot has vowed to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state and expressed support for Israeli settlements, but has promised to crack down on violent settlers.

Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu has publicly said they would partner with the predominantly Arab lists, which represent some 21% of Israel’s population and who could become kingmakers if the results are as close as expected.

Most polling stations will close at 10pm (8pm Irish time).

Final results could take days to trickle in and it is highly unlikely that any single party will come close to the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member parliament.

Cobbling together any coalition could take weeks or months, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail.

What do the opinion polls say?

Most opinion polling shows that Netanyahu’s coalition will lose its majority, but the opposition bloc will also likely fall short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.

Friday was the last day that opinion polling could be published in Israel, and polling from Channel 13 projected that Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party would win 19 seats.

This would be a sharp drop from its current 32 seats.

Eisenkot’s Yashar party meanwhile was projected to claim 22 seats – it was founded in September 2025 and is therefore fighting its first election.

Elsewhere, a new alliance known as Together is projected to win 14 seats.

Former Israel prime minister Naftali Bennett heads the Together alliance.

Meanwhile, on the left, the Democrats currently hold four seats and are projected in the latest polling to claim 10 seats.

Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties in Israel, is projected to secure nine seats, while the United Arab List, headed by Mansour Abbas, is project to win seven seats.