Israeli turnout surges as Netanyahu battles Eisenkot

Israelis voted in large numbers on Tuesday, October 27, in the first general election since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Many voters see the contest as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and polls show him in a close race with former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Turnout reached 31.5% by noon, according to Central Elections Committee chair Dean Livne. That is the highest for that hour since the 1970s and compares with 28.4% at the same point in 2022. The committee said more than 2.3 million people had voted by midday.nytimes.com+1

A tight, tense race

About 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote, including 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel. Netanyahu leads a coalition of nationalists and ultra-Orthodox parties. Eisenkot, whose son was killed in the Gaza war, heads the new Yashar party and loosely leads a divided opposition. The final polls, published Friday, put Netanyahu's bloc at 50 seats and Eisenkot's at 54, according to Haaretz's average of three TV channel surveys.nytimes.com+1

Eisenkot started the day in Ofakim, one of the southern communities attacked on October 7. "If someone in the government had a shred of responsibility, they would start the morning here," he said. Netanyahu voted in Jerusalem and warned that Arab voters were "racing to the ballots". Eisenkot's party complained that its ballot slips had been missing or damaged at some polling stations. The committee said it had found no evidence of systematic ballot tampering.morningjournal.com+3

A long road to a government

Polls close at 10 p.m. local time, and Israel's three main TV broadcasters will then release exit polls. The final tally is expected by October 30, and official results will be formally published on November 4. A Knesset majority takes 61 of 120 seats. No main party is expected to come close to that number, and both blocs could fall short.apnews.com+1

After the count, President Isaac Herzog will consult party leaders and nominate the candidate he thinks is most likely to form a government. That nominee will have up to 42 days to do it. If no government emerges, Israel will hold another election, and the current cabinet will stay on as a caretaker government.reuters.com