Israel election turnout highest in 50 years as voting continues

Almost 45 percent of Israelis had cast a ballot by mid-afternoon, but questions have been raised about possible voter suppression in Arab towns.

Voters enter a polling station to cast their ballots during Israel's general election in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, October 27, 2026. [David Goldman/AP Photo]

Almost 45 percent of Israeli voters had cast a ballot by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee, marking the highest election turnout by 2pm (12:00 GMT) in 50 years.

The figure was 6 percent higher than at the same time in the last elections in 2022.

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Mitchell Barak, a pollster and former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Al Jazeera that voter turnout “is really high and that’s good”.

“I think … it will probably pass its historic peak in ‘73 – when Israel was also involved in a huge war – so draw what conclusion from that you will,” he added.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s handling of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks and the wars that followed, the most intense period of combat for Israel since the 1973 surprise military campaign by Egypt and Syria.

“Those numbers are going to help the incumbent parties,” Barak said, “as the 3.25 percent threshold a party needs to get into the Knesset remains, the number of votes you need to meet that threshold increases dramatically.”

Israeli officials noted that several polling stations had faced exceptionally long lines, which were attributed to high voter turnout despite rainy and blustery weather in parts of the country, and a flood warning in some areas.

An Israeli Palestinian casts her ballot in the country’s general election at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

In a message more than five hours after polls opened, Netanyahu urged supporters to vote, saying turnout was high among his opponents on the left and among Palestinian citizens of Israel, about a fifth of the population.

“We need it to be high too. You all need to stream to the polls,” he said. “This is a fateful moment.”

Netanyahu had repeatedly warned supporters of the prospect of high turnout among Palestinian citizens in Israel ahead of the vote, seeking to mobilise his base under the slogan “the right or Palestine”.

Those voters were casting ballots in “unprecedented” numbers, Palestinian candidate Ahmed Tibi said.

Netanyahu and his main rival Gadi Eisenkot have ruled out partnering with Arab parties, citing a lack of shared values, although some possible scenarios envision them propping up a minority government to ensure Netanyahu is removed from office.

Meanwhile, an Israeli rights group has filed a complaint with the country’s election commission warning that widespread delays could be suppressing the vote among Israeli Palestinians.

Though delays could be a result of high voter turnout, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in its complaint to the Central Elections Committee that delays had been reported in at least 18 communities. It asked the committee to investigate “whether these delays are deliberate.”

The ACRI also reported “a large presence” of police and National Guard officers at a polling station in the Negev Desert, raising concerns that officers were using crowd control as a pretext to prevent people from entering to vote.

截至下午，已有近 45% 的以色列人投了票，但有人质疑阿拉伯城镇可能存在选民压制现象。

2026年10月27日星期二，在以色列特拉维夫举行的以色列大选中，选民们进入投票站投票。[David Goldman/AP Photo]

据以色列中央选举委员会称，截至周二下午，近 45% 的以色列选民已投出选票，这是 50 年来下午 2 点（格林尼治标准时间 12:00）最高的选举投票率。

该数字比 2022 年上次选举同期高出 6%。

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名单中四名巴勒斯坦裔以色列公民中的第三名可以投票，但他们不能指望改变现状。

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民调专家、前总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡的助手米切尔·巴拉克告诉半岛电视台，投票率“非常高，这是好事”。

“我认为……它可能会超过 1973 年的历史峰值——当时以色列也卷入了一场大战——所以你们自己从中得出什么结论吧，”他补充道。

这次选举在很大程度上被视为对内塔尼亚胡处理 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的袭击以及随后战争的一次全民公投。这是自 1973 年埃及和叙利亚发动突袭以来，以色列经历的最激烈的战斗时期。

巴拉克说：“这些数字将有利于执政党，因为政党进入议会所需的3.25%的门槛仍然存在，而达到该门槛所需的票数则大幅增加。”

以色列官员指出，尽管该国部分地区天气多雨刮风，一些地区还发布了洪水预警，但由于选民投票率很高，导致多个投票站出现了异常长的队伍。

2026年10月27日星期二，一名以色列巴勒斯坦人在以色列乌姆法赫姆的一个投票站参加该国大选投票。[Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

在投票开始五个多小时后，内塔尼亚胡发表声明，敦促支持者投票，称他的左翼反对派和以色列巴勒斯坦公民（约占以色列人口的五分之一）的投票率很高。

“我们也需要高投票率。你们都应该积极去投票，”他说。“这是一个决定性的时刻。”

在投票前，内塔尼亚胡曾多次警告支持者，以色列境内的巴勒斯坦公民可能会踊跃投票，并试图以“巴勒斯坦的正义”为口号动员他的支持者。

巴勒斯坦候选人艾哈迈德·蒂比表示，这些选民的投票人数“前所未有”。

内塔尼亚胡和他的主要竞争对手加迪·艾森科特已经排除与阿拉伯政党合作的可能性，理由是缺乏共同价值观，尽管一些可能的设想是，他们会支持一个少数派政府，以确保内塔尼亚胡下台。

与此同时，一个以色列人权组织向该国选举委员会提出申诉，警告称大范围的拖延可能会压制以色列巴勒斯坦人的投票权。

尽管投票率高可能导致投票延误，但以色列公民权利协会（ACRI）在向中央选举委员会提交的投诉中表示，至少有18个社区报告了投票延误的情况。该协会要求委员会调查“这些延误是否是人为造成的”。

ACRI 还报告称，内盖夫沙漠的一个投票站出现了“大量”警察和国民警卫队官员，这引发了人们的担忧，即官员们以控制人群为借口阻止人们进入投票。