Voter turnout in Israel’s legislative elections reached 44.9% by 2 pm (1200GMT) on Tuesday, the highest figure recorded for that hour since 1973, according to the Central Elections Committee.
More than 3.29 million voters had cast their ballots nationwide, Din Livneh, the commission’s acting director general, said in statements carried by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
“We have broken all records registered by the Elections Committee since 1973,” Livneh said. “There has been no such data.”
Earlier, the Elections Committee said a total of 2.39 million Israelis had cast their ballots by noon local time (1000GMT), an increase of more than 3 percentage points compared with the previous election.
Extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attributed the high turnout to exceptionally strong participation among Arab voters and in left-wing strongholds.
More than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote in Tuesday’s elections to choose members of the 120-seat Knesset.
Polling stations opened at 7 am local time (0500 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 10 pm (2000 GMT).
The elections are Israel’s first general polls since the start of its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Voter turnout in Israeli elections reaches 44.9% after 7 hours, highest since 1973
