Israeli elections. Electoral Commission: ‘No extension; polling stations will close at 10 pm’. Record turnout

Salem Salibi, mayor of Majd al-Krum, an Arab town in northern Israel, has stated that he voted in Israel’s parliamentary elections today, after years of boycotting them. Quoted by the Haaretz website, Salibi explained that he regards voting as a tool available to Palestinians to tackle what he describes as an ‘existential threat’. “We must use every means of struggle, including the Knesset, to eliminate this fascist right,” he told Haaretz. Salibi claims that last month’s attempt by Israeli settlers to build a settlement near Majd al-Krum helped to encourage more people to vote. Speaking about young people, the mayor said they went to the polls even though “they are not politically affiliated, but they sensed an existential danger”. This sense of threat, he explained, led people to see the Knesset as one of the tools they can use to oppose the far right.

SENT TO KYRIAT MALAKHI

David Ederi’s faith is unshakeable. When the conversation turns to Bibi’s wars, his reply comes naturally: ‘If he wins – and I assure you he will – over the next four years he will put an end to all the wars. From Iran, through Lebanon, right to Gaza.’ His six friends, aged between 60 and 70, nod in agreement as they sit at a table outside a kiosk. Before them lies the bare square of Kiryat Malakhi. “If we don’t vote for Bibi, what’s happening in Paris and other European cities will happen in Israeli towns,” David Ederi points out.

The Israeli Central Elections Committee is examining requests made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and other parties in the governing coalition to extend voting hours at polling stations across the country, according to Israeli media reports.

The CEC’s Bureau – comprising the Chair and representatives from two coalition parties and two opposition parties – has the power to extend polling station opening hours should particular circumstances warrant it; such an extension may be for up to 24 hours beyond the originally scheduled closing time, i.e. until 10.00 pm local time on Wednesday.

The United Arab List has stated that the electricity supply was cut off in Kuseife and Ar’arat an-Naqab, two Bedouin towns in southern Israel where the party enjoys strong support. According to the United Arab List, this power cut was deliberately caused by right-wing figures in order to cost the party votes.

Today, 27 October, is election day in Israel for the renewal of the Knesset, the parliament whose 120 members subsequently elect the government. 95 per cent of polling stations opened early this morning, and the initial turnout figures are surprising.

In Israel, at 6.00 pm local time, voter turnout stood at 66.7 per cent, 9 percentage points higher than the turnout recorded at the same time in the previous elections in 2022. This was announced by the Electoral Commission, confirming the record turnout, as reported by the Israeli media on polling day for the Knesset elections. “We have broken all records documented by the Electoral Commission since 1973; figures like these have never been seen before,” noted Director-General Din Livne.

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has stated that it “firmly opposes” the Likud’s request to extend polling hours, emphasising that “no exceptional circumstances have arisen that would justify approving the request, which is intended to create a pretext for challenging the integrity of the elections, in line with the lies that Netanyahu has been spreading since the early hours of the morning”. Meanwhile, Itamar Ben Gvir’s party, Otzma Yehudit, and the religious Shas party have called for support for the Likud’s petition, “in light of the congestion and unusually long waiting times at polling stations”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has announced that it has submitted a request to extend polling station opening hours beyond 10.00 pm (local time). Haaretz reports this, noting that electoral law provides that the chair of the Central Elections Committee and their deputies may extend voting hours on election day and, if necessary, decide to hold a further day of voting.

It is “of no importance” to come first in the general election, said former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (2021–2022), emphasising that what really matters is the strength of the bloc opposing the current head of government, Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Vote for the party you believe in, the one that will bring about real change,” he said, according to the Israeli newspaper *Haaretz*, which quotes a statement from the “Insieme” (Ensemble) party, founded by Bennett together with his successor, Yair Lapid.

Right up until Monday, people were still arriving at the Ben Gurion polling station from all over the world. There are no ballot papers or ballot boxes because this is not a polling station named after the founder of Israel, but Tel Aviv airport. It is estimated that 80,000 Israelis living abroad, unable to cast their vote overseas (as the law does not provide for this), will have decided to do so here.

Some will arrive only on Tuesday, cast their vote and leave on the first evening flight; others have returned to take part in last weekend’s demonstrations and – they hope – to witness the victory of the parties they support. Italia, France, Germany, London, Madrid, the United States. There are tales of a family who travelled all the way from New Zealand. “Fly and Vote” is the coalition of American Jews that helped secure seats on the flights: not to pay for the tickets, as the law would have prohibited this during the election period.