Voting began Tuesday in Israel’s parliamentary elections, with more than 7.3 million people eligible to cast ballots to elect the 120-member Knesset.
Polling stations opened at 7 am local time (05:00GMT) and are scheduled to close at 10 pm (20:00GMT), according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
A total of 12,018 polling stations and approximately 18,000 ballot boxes have been prepared nationwide, with around 100,000 election workers deployed.
Thirty-seven parties and electoral lists are competing in the elections, with at least 61 seats required to form a governing coalition.
To enter the Knesset, parties must simply receive at least 3.25% of valid votes, equivalent to roughly four seats. Parties that fail to cross this threshold receive no representation, and their votes are excluded from the distribution of seats among the qualifying parties.
The main contenders include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, former Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and the Together alliance led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Israeli police are preparing to deploy 22,000 officers for Tuesday’s general elections amid fears of possible unrest following the announcement of the results, local media reported.
What happens after the election?
Once the results are determined, President Isaac Herzog will consult the leaders of the elected parties before tasking the lawmaker he believes has the best chance of forming a government, who does not necessarily need to be the leader of the largest party or bloc.
Because Israelis vote for parties rather than directly electing a prime minister, neither the party winning the most seats nor the bloc receiving the most votes is guaranteed to form the government. What matters is which bloc can assemble sufficient parliamentary support, giving smaller parties disproportionate influence, particularly when their backing is needed to secure a majority of 61 lawmakers.
That candidate will have 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension. If those efforts fail, a second party leader may be given 28 days to try, and if that attempt falls short, a majority of 61 MKs can request that the president assign the task to a particular lawmaker within a further 21-day period.
A new government takes office only after winning a confidence vote in the Knesset. Although a coalition generally needs the support of at least 61 lawmakers, the law does not require an absolute majority to approve a new government, allowing a minority government to take office if more MKs vote in favor than against.
The process can take weeks or months, meaning that even after Tuesday’s votes are counted, the identity of Israel’s next prime minister and the composition of the next government may remain uncertain.
