Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad returned to Israel for Tuesday’s Knesset election, a surge driven by the country’s first national vote since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the wars that followed in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Israel generally does not permit citizens to vote from abroad. The AID Coalition’s Fly&Vote initiative said eligible citizens must be physically present in Israel on Election Day and organized assistance to reduce the cost and logistical difficulty of returning.
The coalition estimated that as many as 67,000 expatriate voters would fly in, with about half traveling from the United States and others coming from Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to The Associated Press. The estimate was based on surveys of expatriates and registration data collected for the campaign.
The returning voters join roughly 7.3 million Israelis eligible to vote, according to figures from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported by The Times of Israel. About 810,000 eligible voters live outside Israel, although only diplomats, embassy personnel and their families are normally permitted to cast ballots overseas.
For most voters arriving from abroad, the election is widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. Voters are weighing the government’s handling of the Oct. 7 attack, the subsequent military campaigns, the country’s democratic direction and Netanyahu’s long tenure, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
The Central Elections Committee said 4,218 eligible personnel voted at 101 polling stations in 99 Israeli diplomatic missions before Election Day, with turnout reaching 86.7%, compared with 69.6% in 2022. Those ballots were to be transferred to Israel for counting, the committee said in a statement reported by The Times of Israel.
Voting Tuesday is taking place at approximately 18,000 polling stations, with the results determining the makeup of Israel’s 120-seat Knesset and the coalition that will seek to form the next government. The overseas arrivals could prove significant in a close contest, although their final impact will depend on turnout and the distribution of votes among the competing parties.