Israeli Turnout Surges as Netanyahu Urges Supporters to Vote

Israeli voters turned out at an unusually high rate Tuesday in a parliamentary election that will determine the composition of the Knesset, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged right-wing supporters to vote. The Central Elections Committee said 31.5% of eligible voters had cast ballots by noon, compared with 28.4% at the same point in the 2022 election. The committee reported that 16.68% had voted by 10 a.m., the highest turnout recorded at that hour since 1981. The figures reflect different points in the day: the noon comparison is against the 2022 noon turnout, while the historical comparison is for 10 a.m. Netanyahu said turnout was high among his opponents on the left and among Arab Israelis, and called on right-wing voters to go to polling stations. His appeal came as pre-election polling indicated a close contest, with neither his camp nor the opposition assured of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. The election is the first since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the wars that followed. Netanyahu’s principal challenger is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose opposition campaign has focused on the government’s record....