Israelis vote for first time since October 7 terrorist attack

Who has the right to vote?

About 7.3 million Israelis (including approximately 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel) are eligible to vote on Tuesday.

More than 640,000 young Israelis will be able to vote for the first time in a general election.

Around 3.1 million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank do not have the right to vote in Israeli elections, but 500,000 illegal settlers in those territories do.

Additionally, 350,000 Palestinians live in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and cannot vote either, while around 230,000 Israelis living there can do so.

The US-based non-profit America-Israel Democracy Coalition (AID Coalition) organized a “Fly&Vote” initiative, with up to 67,000 voters returning to Israel to participate in the election, based on expatriate surveys and registration data.

The coalition said half are from the United States, while the rest are from Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Israel does not have mail-in voting.

How does the voting system work?

Israel is a parliamentary democracy and voters elect a legislature rather than directly choosing their prime minister. Voters choose a party “list”.

Israel uses a proportional representation system in which 120 parliamentary seats are distributed roughly in proportion to a party’s vote share.

To enter Parliament (known as the Knesset), parties must obtain at least 3.25% of the valid votes, which is equivalent to approximately four seats.

The party which has a majority of at least 61 seats is called upon to form a government. No party has ever achieved an absolute majority, which is why Israel has always been governed by coalitions. Polls suggest this year will be no different.

Unlike many other democracies around the world, Israel is not divided into geographic electoral districts.

Rather than electing individual legislators to represent local areas, voters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa all choose from the same party lists in a single national constituency.

When polls close at 10 p.m. local time (9 p.m. CET), broadcasters will release their first exit polls, offering a first indication of the results. The official results are expected to be released on November 4.