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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 deployed a 690-million-NIS logistical plan to decide the makeup of the 120-seat Knesset and set the stage for crucial post-election coalition building.
Voting will take place between 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM 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 focus has been placed on voter accessibility, with 6,209 accessible polling stations available, a figure that includes 3,621 dedicated special-accessibility stations. The scope of logistical preparation requires substantial resources, including 12 million voting envelopes, 18,000 ballot boxes, and 250 tonnes 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 massive effort is supported by an active workforce comprising 1,00,000 election-day personnel alongside 1,500 core administrative staff overseeing operations throughout the entire election period. To streamline voter participation and support high turnout, free public transport will be provided across the country on Election Day. This initiative covers 660 intercity routes as well as full Israel Railways services. The entire election operation operates under an approved budget of 690 million Israeli New Shekels, backed by extensive administrative training that prepared approximately 50,000 trainees across roughly 2,140 venues. Israels parliamentary system centers on determining representation for the 120 seats in the 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 votes for party lists. Ultimately, a majority of at least 61 seats is required to form a governing coalition, making post-election negotiations the decisive factor in who assumes leadership of the government. The polls come amidst fragile times in West Asia, with Israel embroiled in the Iran conflict and facing heat on its southern border in its skirmish with Hezbollah. For incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu, the narrative is simple: a projection that only he can keep the Iranian threat at bay, especially with his endorsement from US President Trump. Netanyahu's coalition comprises his own Likud Party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's pro-settler Religious Zionism, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right party, Jewish Power. His closest rival is the former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who has projected himself as a security hawk with an image of a political outsider. The others include the alliance led by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman and a four-party coalition with a significant representation of the Arab minority in Israel 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 seats in the Knesset proportional to its share of the vote. Israel has an electoral threshold: only lists that receive at least 3.25% of the valid votes participate in the allocation of Knesset seats. The Knesset is made up of 120 members. After the elections, the President of the State, in this case Issac Herzog, assigns the task of forming a government to a Member of the Knesset who may then present the government they have formed to the Knesset. For the government to be established, it must win a plurality in a vote of confidence held in the Knesset. To date, all governments formed in Israel have been coalition governments. According to Jerusalem Post, the four latest election surveys, which closed on October 23, show that Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party leads Netanyahu's Likud, but neither of the two major political blocs has enough seats to secure a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The battle lines are drawn firmly: consummate political survivor Bibi Netanyahu versus a former Military Chief in a no-holds-barred contest. The victory of either could well reshape not just the politics of Israel but also the situation in West Asia. (ANI)
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