Bibi’s campaign posters prominently show him posing with Trump, so apparently he hopes the Iran war is a vote-winner.
YNET had some interesting human interest stories involving the election.
A 94 year old man from Ramat Gan, against the wishes of his family, insisted on travelling to the poll to cast his vote against Netanyahu before returning home and passing away just outside his house. His daughter was proud of him for expressing his democratic will one last time and said that he should be an example to all of us.
They also interviewed a number of Israelis living abroad who flew in to vote and are flying out a few hours later that same day.
They have announced that anyone in line by 10 will be able to vote, even if they are not able to get to the front of the line in time. And the Likud even put in a request with the election commission to extend the deadline by a few hours - I wonder if they think that high turnout is good for them?
I honestly have no idea who high turnout is good for at this point. Or who is likely to benefit from voters coming out after 10 PM.
Saw a clip today of a bunch of elderly liberals getting off a charter flight from San Francisco to Tel Aviv holding a banner reading “Saving Israeli Democracy”. Good on 'em.
I was just going to ask, “Is there any other democracy in the world that doesn’t allow citizens living abroad to vote?” But then I remembered it’s 2026 and you can just ask AI, and it appears the answer is “no”. Laws vary widely from country to country, but it appears Israel is the only one that just flat out doesn’t allow expats to vote. (Some US States allow expats to vote only for Federal offices).
Ale Yarok?
(they’re a single issue cannabis legalization party)
Expats can vote, or they wouldn’t be flying back to do so. There is no residency requirement in order to vote.
I think it has to do with how any Jewish person can instantly become an Israeli citizen upon request; it wouldn’t make a ton of sense if a Jewish American who had never lived in Israel or had anything to do with it could just go to the consulate in their own country, get citizenship, and start voting.
High turnout means that everyone knows this is a pivotal election.
People are voting for parties, right? What parties would be good or bad for Netanyahu? Who is likely to be PM if not him?
Yeah, I remember meming on them as early as when I was in elementary school (I think they were a new party then).
But you’re right, their supporters are quite likely to be out and about getting a late night snack when they remember that it’s the 27th and they should have voted 
Was going to say, makes sense in view of Israel’s approach to citizenship.
Of course I want to respect your privacy, but I’d be interested in knowing who you voted for (or would have voted for in Babale’s case) and why. (Personally, I would probably vote for the Democrats, but would also seriously consider the Joint List*)
*A coalition of mostly Arab parties which, sadly, does not include Ale Yarok.
Yeah, i don’t think other countries have that risk. Most require residency for new citizens. Or parents who are already citizens.
(Although i know a surprising number of Americans who have recently established citizenship in some other country. I wonder how many of them have considered voting in their new country?)
For the non-Hebraophones among us: that translates to “green leaf.”
Correct, I should have said “doesn’t allow expats living abroad to vote from abroad”.
I’m pretty sure the Law of Return doesn’t work that way, though. I don’t think a Jew can get Israeli citizenship without actually moving to Israel.
… great now y’all got me wondering if they have equivalents of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party or the Monster Raving Loony Party
Likud is Bibi and friends, mostly dumb idiots chosen for their loyalty to Netanyahu - even Likudniks have to concede that he’s hollowed out the rest of the party over the years.
Opposing him are Yashar (Eisenkot), B’Yachad (Bennett), The Democrats (Golan), and Yisrael Beiteinu (Lieberman). These are your center through center left parties that oppose Netanyahu.
Outside these two blocks are more identity specific groups.
There’s the Joint List (Israeli Arab party that would work with Israeli parties if it comes down to it).
Then there’s the Orthodox parties - Shas is the big one, but there’s also United Torah Judaism. They’re basically single issue parties about the draft at this point. Shas represents Mizrachi and Sephardic Jews while United Torah Judaism represents Ashkenazi Jews.
Finally there’s the Religious Zionist parties - Otzma Yehudit and Zehut - both of which are far right whack jobs.
Oh, and there’s Ra’am, Abbas’ anti-Zionist Arab party.
The three opposition parties Yashar, B’Yachad, and The Democrats are pretty much aligned on their anti Netanyahu platform.
Odds are that neither Netanyahu nor the opposition parties will have enough of a majority to vote in a prime minister on their own, so they’ll need allies - either Arab or Orthodox parties.
Easily The Democrats - I’m a fan of Yair Golan. He seems like by far the best choice to me. I liked him before The Democrats unified and he was Labor.
You have to go to Israel to get citizenship but you can leave right after.
And if your parents are Israeli you don’t have to go at all but that’s standard for most countries that allow citizenship by descendants.
Likewise. I voted for them this morning, and I’m volunteering for them right now, standing the legally proscribed distance outside the polls and convincing people to vote for them.
For what it’s worth (and I expect that the answer is “not much”), Polymarket is heavily favoring Eisenkot at this point.
Discussing “high turnout”:
Pun intended?
If they leave the polls open until 4:20 AM, Ale Yarok might win enough votes to get a representative in Parliament.