LAHORE: About 7.3 million Israeli citizens will exercise their right of franchise in their country’s 2026 elections on Tuesday (today) to elect all 120 members of the 26th Knesset (unicameral parliament) to shape the 38th governing coalition that is due to succeed the regime led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Election Day, according to country’s media outlets, will cost Israel US$1.3 billion. The October 15 voting at 101 polling stations, set up in 99 Israeli diplomatic missions, had facilitated 4,800 state representatives serving abroad and their eligible family members to exercise their democratic right. The turnout was 86 per cent, higher than the previous elections.
Since Israeli law does not permit absentee voting at embassies for ordinary citizens and participation requires physical travel, more than 33,000 expatriates have reportedly flown home on dedicated flights from global cities like New York and Lisbon to cast their ballots.
According to media houses like the “Times of Israel” and the “Jerusalem Post,” in order to bypass limited flight availability, the “Fly & Vote” Initiative had coordinated blocked seating and charter routes, advertising direct round trips such as New York–Tel Aviv for $1,800 and Lisbon–Tel Aviv for $580. Travelers had to fund their own tickets.
This initiative was launched by an NGO called the AID Coalition (America—Israel Democracy Coalition), which was formed in 2023 to secure and safeguard the democratic foundation of Israel.
Remember, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party had threatened legal action against the “Fly & Vote” Initiative, alleging that the effort implicitly favoured opposition parties.
The official results of these polls will be announced on 4 November 4 or just hours after the American mid-term elections where Netanyahu’s closest ally, Donald Trump, is currently battling hard to save his blushes and salvage pride.
Here follow some more vital facts about Israeli polls:The previous Assembly, which was dissolved on July 17, 2026, is the first to have completed its full four-year term since 1988, otherwise the dissolution of this legislative house on regular basis has been a hallmark of country’s democratic system marked by political turmoil.
As far as Netanyahu’s government is concerned, it has become the first Israeli regime to complete a full term since the 1973 ballot exercise.Not fewer than 61 seats would be needed for a majority. During the 2022 snap polls, Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc had gained a majority and his Likud Party had bagged 32 seats.
Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, the main opposition entity, the National Unity, had joined the government to form an emergency coalition. But the tranquility was short-lived for Netanyahu as he kept facing public and political pressure to relinquish charge ad call snap polls.
The October 7 attacks, which was a series of coordinated armed incursions from Gaza had left 1195 people dead, which included 828 civilians. Those who perished included 36 children and 71 foreign nationals.
At least 367 members of the security forces had also lost lives in the line of duty.These attacks were carried out by Hamas and several other Palestinian groups. This had consequently led to a grand Israeli offensive in Gaza. The electoral threshold for the election is 3.25 per cent only. This threshold is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in the legislative house.
Eminent British news agency “Reuters” states: “Given that he was Israel’s leader when around 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu has a surprisingly good chance of performing well in elections.
The violence and turmoil of the past three years make Israel’s economic resilience striking. True, sovereign debt is heading towards 70 per cent of GDP, up around 10 percentage points since 2022, and the fiscal deficit has risen to nearly 5 per cent of GDP, from under 2 per cent. While defence spending has doubled to around 8 per cent of GDP, higher military budgets overseas are boosting demand for drones and cyber systems made by the high-tech sector that constitutes over half of Israel’s exports.”
