Israel election turnout highest in 50 years as voting continues

Two-thirds of Israeli voters had cast a ballot by early evening on Tuesday, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee, exceeding the total number of voters at the last election.

By 6pm (16:00 GMT), some 66.7 percent of eligible Israelis had voted, up from 57.7 percent by the same time in 2022. Israel’s military says turnout among soldiers had climbed beyond 68 percent by 5pm (15:00 GMT) – higher than the 65 percent tracked at the same stage of the 2022 election.

Polling stations will close at 10pm local time (20:00 GMT), but the Central Elections Committee says anyone waiting in line at that time will still be allowed to vote.

This comes as local media reports say the committee rejected a request by Likud to extend voting hours beyond 10pm.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has issued an 11th-hour appeal for right-wing voters to cast their ballots, saying that turnout “in the Arab sector is unprecedented” and that a “dangerous left-wing government” could take power.

“Do not despair! It is still possible to win,” Smotrich said in a post on X.

Prominent politicians from Arab-led lists have accused right-wing figures of incitement against Palestinian citizens, who make up 20 percent of Israel’s population, and of questioning their legitimacy to vote.

Mitchell Barak, a pollster and former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier told Al Jazeera that voter turnout “is really high and that’s good”.

“I think … it will probably pass its historic peak in ‘73 – when Israel was also involved in a huge war – so draw what conclusion from that you will,” he added.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s handling of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the wars that followed, the most intense period of combat for Israel since the 1973 surprise military campaign by Egypt and Syria.

“Those numbers are going to help the incumbent parties,” Barak said, “as the 3.25 percent threshold a party needs to get into the Knesset remains, the number of votes you need to meet that threshold increases dramatically.”

Israeli officials noted that several polling stations had faced exceptionally long lines, which were attributed to high voter turnout despite rainy and blustery weather in parts of the country, and a flood warning in some areas.

In a message more than five hours after polls opened, Netanyahu urged supporters to vote, saying turnout was high among his opponents on the left and among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

“We need it to be high too. You all need to stream to the polls,” he said. “This is a fateful moment.”

Netanyahu had repeatedly warned supporters of the prospect of high turnout among Palestinian citizens in Israel ahead of the vote, seeking to mobilise his base under the slogan “the right or Palestine”.

Those voters were casting ballots in “unprecedented” numbers, Palestinian candidate Ahmad Tibi said.

Netanyahu and his main rival Gadi Eisenkot have ruled out partnering with Arab parties, citing a lack of shared values, although some possible scenarios envision them propping up a minority government to ensure Netanyahu is removed from office.

Meanwhile, an Israeli rights group has filed a complaint with the country’s election committee warning that widespread delays could be suppressing the vote among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Though delays could be a result of high voter turnout, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in its complaint to the Central Elections Committee that delays had been reported in at least 18 communities. It asked the committee to investigate “whether these delays are deliberate”.

The ACRI also reported “a large presence” of police and National Guard officers at a polling station in the Negev Desert, raising concerns that officers were using crowd control as a pretext to prevent people from entering to vote.