Reuters. Israeli voters turned out at polling stations on Tuesday (October 27) hoping for a "better future” as incumbent prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a fight for political survival in Israel's election.
Opinion polls show a close race between Netanyahu's Likud party and its right-wing allies and a rival alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and security hawk with backers on the right and in the center.
The election follows one of Israel's most turbulent periods since its establishment in 1948, shaped by the trauma of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Israel's subsequent military assault in Gaza and deep domestic divisions over the policies of Netanyahu's right-wing government.
The Israeli Central Election Committee said 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote, some 330,000 of them for the first time. The polls close at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT).
