Parliamentary elections held in Israel

Election process

Elections for the 26th Knesset, the parliament of Israel, were held. Voting began at 07:00 local time and ended at 22:00. Up to 7.3 million voters had the right to vote. According to data from Israel's Central Election Committee, voter turnout was 66.7% as of 6 p.m. local time. Rustavi 2+7

Political context and results

The elections were held for the first time since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. During the pre-election period, the main competition was between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party. According to exit polls, Netanyahu's bloc has 50 seats, Eisenkot's bloc has 53, and the remaining parties have 17. Imedi+8

Seats in the Knesset are distributed through a proportional system, for which parties must cross a 3.25% threshold. Official results are to be published on November 4. After summarizing the results, President Isaac Herzog will meet with party leaders and entrust the formation of the government to the candidate who has the greatest chance of doing so. Imedi+5