Voting centers close in Knesset election with turnout near 75% and Likud expected to lead
Voting centers closed Tuesday evening after turnout estimated at nearly 75%, and a poll suggested Likud could become the largest party with about 24 seats, while the Central Elections Committee rejected a request to extend voting.
Voting centers closed Tuesday evening in Israel’s Knesset election after a turnout estimated at nearly 75%, according to media reports.
Reuters, citing a poll reported in the media, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is expected to be the largest party in the chamber, forecast to win about 24 seats out of 120.
Israeli media reported that the Central Elections Committee rejected Likud’s request to extend the voting period, which ends at 11 p.m. Baghdad time.
The election is being contested by 36 lists competing for 120 seats, in a contest between Netanyahu’s bloc and opposition parties, led by the Yashar party under Eizenkot.
These are Israel’s first elections since Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, and are seen as an opportunity for voters to assess the Netanyahu government’s performance on security, particularly its handling of the attack and the wars that followed in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
