Israel election today: Netanyahu vs Eisenkot in the tightest race in years, turnout could hit 87%

Israel votes in a national election today, Tuesday 27 October, its first since 2022, with polls showing an extremely tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party, CNBC reported. Neither is expected to win a majority alone, and some analysts say Israel could end up with a minority government straight after an election for the first time.

The race at a glance

Israel does not allow postal or overseas voting except for staff at its diplomatic missions, so citizens abroad have to be in the country to vote. A group called Fly and Vote has chartered a flight from Portugal and bought blocks of seats from New York, with travellers paying their own fares.

What the vote is about

Netanyahu has been prime minister for 18 years across three spells. Eisenkot, who led the Israel Defense Forces, is his main challenger. Three issues dominate:

• Security and the Iran war, which is still being fought and has made the usual security debate sharper.
• Conscription of ultra-Orthodox men, many of whom are exempt from military service, an issue that divides Israeli society.
• The judiciary, where Netanyahu's coalition is still pursuing a plan to give the government more control over the courts.

Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022, and the outcome of this one will shape its security and economic direction for years.

Why people in Pakistan are watching

Pakistan does not recognise Israel, but the result bears directly on the war with Iran, Pakistan's neighbour, and on the conflict now spreading to Saudi Arabia, where Pakistan has pledged support under the Makkah defence pact. Oil prices have swung on every turn of that war, and they feed straight into what Pakistanis pay at the pump: petrol rose Rs 1.54 a litre from today (our story, live history).

Polls close at 10pm in Israel, which is 1am on Wednesday in Pakistan. Exit polls usually come within minutes; the final count can take several days, and forming a coalition far longer.