Polls have now opened in the first election in Israel since the murderous attacks launched by Hamas on October 7 2023.
Israelis have from 7am until 10pm tonight to cast their vote in what has been described as the country’s most important election in its history.
It is widely seen as a referendum on the leadership of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, with his opponents seeking to deliver their verdict on the security failings that led to the murder of more than 1,200 people on October 7, as well as 251 more who were taken hostage into Gaza.
Netanyahu's main opponent is Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff who entered politics in 2022. The war has taken a personal toll on him: his youngest son Gal, 25, was killed fighting in Gaza in December 2023. His centrist party is called Yashar.
Other contentious issues which are likely to influence voting include Haredi conscription, Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul and the state of the economy
Explaining the importance of this election Dr Ilana Shpaizman from the department of political studies at Bar-Ilan University told the JC: “If Israel wants to remain part of the Western world and be ‘a nation among nations,’ as David Ben-Gurion envisioned, it has to change course. Otherwise, Israel risks not only international isolation but also an exodus of people who no longer believe the country can offer their children a decent quality of life.
“That is why voters seeking change across the political spectrum, from right-wing voters who support Avigdor Liberman to left-wing voters who support Yair Golan, see these elections as Israel’s last chance.”
More than seven million people are eligible to vote and if previous elections are anything to go by, turnout is typically high. Tens of thousands of Israelis have returned from overseas to have their say in the country's new government.
Any citizen aged 18 and over who is listed in the electoral register can vote. The process is a long way from the simple ballot paper that voters in the UK are used to, however. Instead, those entering the ballot booth will be faced with a wooden tray containing paper slips for each party - last time that meant 39 pieces of paper for 39 parties.
The results are likely to be no less complicated as no single party has ever won the 61 out of the 120 seats it would need in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to give it an overall majority.
That usually means the president will ask the leader of the party deemed to have the best chance of forming a coalition to give it a go.
The negotiations in forming such a coalition can take weeks and may not always end successfully.
The final poll before the booths opened suggested that the Knesset is likely to fall into coalition deadlock as neither the electoral bloc associated with Netanyahu nor that of Eisenkot, will reach the majority threshold.
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