Most Israeli citizens must return to Israel for election day if they wish to vote, but an exception is made for diplomats, emissaries and their families dispatched abroad by the World Zionist Organisation, the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod and the Jewish National Fund.
The poll follows inconclusive elections in April and September 2019, with incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Benny Gantz unable to form either Likud or Blue and White-led coalitions.
Voting in each mission is organised by a committee consisting of the consul and another high-ranking official, commonly a military or cultural attaché.
Once voting concludes, ballot boxes are returned to Israel, to be stored securely in the Knesset until 2 March.
Many in the Israeli foreign ministry might have been hoping that "third time’s a charm", however, things have not quite panned out that way owing to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
The courier retrieving the ballot boxes from China will be placed in enforced 14-day quarantine period, while ballots from Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore will be transported home through the Embassy in New Delhi.
