Jerusalem, October 26 (ANI) — As more than 7.3 million Israelis prepare to head to the polls across 12,018 voting locations, the country’s Central Elections Committee has implemented a 690 million Israeli new shekel logistical plan to determine the composition of the 120-seat Knesset and set the stage for crucial post-election coalition building.
Voting will take place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. across the country. A total of 7,336,553 citizens are registered and eligible to cast their ballots. To accommodate the electorate, officials have established 12,018 polling stations nationwide.
Significant attention has been given to voter accessibility, with 6,209 accessible polling stations available, including 3,621 dedicated special-accessibility stations.
The logistical preparations require substantial resources, including 12 million voting envelopes, 18,000 ballot boxes and 250 tons of paper allocated specifically for ballot slips.
To safeguard electoral integrity and oversight, officials are deploying 15,000 body cameras to inspectors on the ground. The operation is supported by a workforce of 100,000 election-day personnel and 1,500 core administrative staff overseeing activities throughout the election period.
To facilitate voter participation and encourage high turnout, free public transportation will be provided nationwide on Election Day. The initiative covers 660 intercity routes as well as all Israel Railways services.
The entire election operation is being conducted under an approved budget of 690 million Israeli new shekels, supported by extensive administrative training that prepared approximately 50,000 trainees across roughly 2,140 venues.
Israel’s parliamentary system centers on determining representation in the 120-seat Knesset. Participating party lists must cross a 3.25% electoral threshold to qualify for seats. Rather than voting directly for a prime minister, citizens cast their ballots for party lists. A majority of at least 61 seats is required to form a governing coalition, making post-election negotiations decisive in determining who leads the government.
The elections come at a fragile time in West Asia, with Israel embroiled in the conflict with Iran and facing tensions along its southern border amid clashes with Hezbollah.
For incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu, the central message is that only he can keep the Iranian threat at bay, particularly with the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s coalition comprises his own Likud Party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s pro-settlement Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Jewish Power party.
His closest rival is former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who has presented himself as a security hawk and political outsider.
Other contenders include the alliance led by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and a four-party coalition with significant representation from Israel’s Arab minority, headed by Yair Golan.
Israel uses a party-list proportional representation system. Under this system, voters cast their ballots for lists of candidates, and each list receives a number of Knesset seats proportional to its share of the vote. Only lists that receive at least 3.25% of the valid votes participate in the allocation of seats. The Knesset has 120 members.
After the elections, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, assigns the task of forming a government to a member of the Knesset, who may then present the proposed government to the legislature. The government must win a vote of confidence in the Knesset to take office. All Israeli governments formed to date have been coalition governments.
According to The Jerusalem Post, four recent election surveys, which closed on October 23, show that Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party leads Netanyahu’s Likud Party, but neither of the two major political blocs has enough seats to secure a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
The contest pits Netanyahu, a veteran political survivor, against a former military chief in a fiercely contested race. A victory for either could reshape not only Israeli politics but also the broader situation in West Asia. (ANI)
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