Israelis were voting Tuesday in a closely contested election seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership after a total of 19 years in office. Turnout reached 44.9% by 2 p.m., the highest recorded for that hour since records began in 1973, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee. The vote is Israel’s sixth since 2019 and its first national election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack. A September Israel Democracy Institute survey found that 68% of Jewish Israelis considered October 7 central to their choice of party. Military-service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men are another divisive issue, pitting calls for a broader draft against the interests of Netanyahu’s religious allies. Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot leads a centrist challenge, but neither bloc appears assured of the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset. Polls close at 10 p.m. local time, when exit polls are expected. Coalition talks could determine the next prime minister even if election-night results are clear.
