Gulf mediators and Iran agree to keep talking as US strike threat loomsIsrael votes at record turnout in election too close to callCongo Ebola cases pass 10,000 as neighbours tighten quarantineHouthis claim missile strike on Ras Tanura as Egypt backs RiyadhOleshky truce holds as Nordic leaders speak with PutinDrone strikes kill 21 in Nyala and cut power across Sudan as states warn of famineChurch reports 60 Orthodox Christians killed in two Oromia attacksIndia evacuates eastern coast as very severe Cyclone Arnab nears landfallJordan strikes southern Syria after church attack, Damascus protestsAnthropic's IPO filing shows heavy losses and warns of existential risksRussian strikes damage Kyiv's South Bridge and cut power in seven regionsFlávio Bolsonaro leaves for US as Brazil cancels his passportsOil holds near $115 while gas, fuel costs and inflation stay highChina's AI stocks keep falling despite state supportFrench student groups reject concessions as finance minister rules out new spendingAI stocks rebound as Meta raises equity and Anthropic files for IPOHebron displacement nears 5,000 as officers expect pullout after voteTwo men charged over RAF Fairford incidentStudent List wins Serbian election as Croatia demands acknowledgement of 1990s warsIndonesia and Singapore plan haze task force amid tensionsBrazil's real suffers worst day in over 25 years after Lula comebackIran threatens legal action against Sinokor ships over HormuzUN commission says Israel continued genocide in Gaza after ceasefireGas exporters meet in Moscow as Iranian and Qatari leaders hold talksIndonesian bond yield hits four-year high as MSCI risk and oil weighFrench consumer confidence hits 13-year low amid protestsGulf mediators and Iran agree to keep talking as US strike threat loomsIsrael votes at record turnout in election too close to callCongo Ebola cases pass 10,000 as neighbours tighten quarantineHouthis claim missile strike on Ras Tanura as Egypt backs RiyadhOleshky truce holds as Nordic leaders speak with PutinDrone strikes kill 21 in Nyala and cut power across Sudan as states warn of famineChurch reports 60 Orthodox Christians killed in two Oromia attacksIndia evacuates eastern coast as very severe Cyclone Arnab nears landfallJordan strikes southern Syria after church attack, Damascus protestsAnthropic's IPO filing shows heavy losses and warns of existential risksRussian strikes damage Kyiv's South Bridge and cut power in seven regionsFlávio Bolsonaro leaves for US as Brazil cancels his passportsOil holds near $115 while gas, fuel costs and inflation stay highChina's AI stocks keep falling despite state supportFrench student groups reject concessions as finance minister rules out new spendingAI stocks rebound as Meta raises equity and Anthropic files for IPOHebron displacement nears 5,000 as officers expect pullout after voteTwo men charged over RAF Fairford incidentStudent List wins Serbian election as Croatia demands acknowledgement of 1990s warsIndonesia and Singapore plan haze task force amid tensionsBrazil's real suffers worst day in over 25 years after Lula comebackIran threatens legal action against Sinokor ships over HormuzUN commission says Israel continued genocide in Gaza after ceasefireGas exporters meet in Moscow as Iranian and Qatari leaders hold talksIndonesian bond yield hits four-year high as MSCI risk and oil weighFrench consumer confidence hits 13-year low amid protests
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Symbolic image: Israel votes at record turnout in election too close to callSymbolic image

Israel votes at record turnout in election too close to call

19 sources

Israelis voted on Tuesday in the first election since 7 October 2023, with turnout the highest in decades. Polls show neither Netanyahu's bloc nor Eisenkot's opposition reaching 61 seats.

By 8pm turnout reached 74.3 per cent, eight points above 2022, according to the Central Elections Committee (CEC), as quoted by the FT. After voting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Arab turnout was very high and that right-wing voters must "flock to the polling stations". He also accused opponents of trying to "steal the election", without providing evidence, the FT reports. Likud officials told the Jerusalem Post they fear apathy among right-wing voters, while the FT notes that several Arab towns had by late afternoon passed their full 2022 totals. Channel 12's final poll put Netanyahu's bloc at 50 seats, the opposition at 56 and the Arab parties at 16.

Request to extend voting refused

The CEC rejected a Likud request to keep polls open longer, saying turnout across all sectors did not justify it. Shas, Otzma Yehudit and Ofer Winter's People of Israel had backed the call, while Eisenkot's Yashar opposed it, saying it would lay groundwork for challenges to the election's integrity.

Coalition arithmetic

The Jerusalem Post expects Eisenkot to need talks with Avigdor Liberman and some arrangement involving Arab parties, though most opposition leaders have pledged not to govern with them. President Isaac Herzog will oversee the dealmaking, which the FT says could last several weeks.

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