Benjamin Netanyahu's political future hangs in the balance as polls closed tonight in the Israeli election.
asserted
polls → hang → election
The latest polls published on Friday ahead of today's voting suggest the 77-year-old, who has been in power for four years, is almost neck-and-neck with his main rival Gadi Eisenkot.
asserted
who → publish → rival
The election is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's leadership since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks of 2023, as well as the wars which have since shaken the Middle East.
asserted
which → see → East
A record 74 per cent of Israelis turned out to vote on Tuesday, marking a high since records began in 1974 when the country's people voted following the Yom Kippur war against Egypt and Syria.
asserted
people → turn → Egypt
Throughout the day, Netanyahu had urged his supporters to cast their votes, calling it an 'emergency' and a 'matter of life and death'.
asserted
Netanyahu → urge → life
His Likud party had requested that voting be extended beyond the country's 10pm [8pm GMT] deadline, but a committee ultimately refused this, saying 'the current circumstances do not justify an extension'.
asserted
circumstances → request → extension
The earliest exit polls, released only moments after voting closed, suggest Netanyahu's Likud party will stay as the largest in the country's parliament.
asserted
party → release → parliament
The opposition Yashar party - led ex-military chief Eisenkot - is meanwhile predicted to win 22 seats, according to local broadcaster Channel 12.
uncertain
party → lead → Channel
Israelis vote for parties, which then form alliances to create a majority coalition.
asserted
which → vote → coalition
No single party has ever won a 61-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset.
asserted
party → win → parliament
Opinion polls suggest a tight race, with no clear winner expected, setting the stage for weeks or even months of negotiations among around a dozen parties expected to win seats in the Knesset.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pictured in Jerusalem today
Netanyahu's main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, is pictured in Tel Aviv
Emotions were running high throughout the country today with one voter in Jerusalem telling the Daily Mail: 'This is critical, and it's been as critical.'
She said she had come from kibbutz Nirim, which was attacked on October 7.
asserted
which → suggest → October
In Kiryat Shmona, a Netanyahu stronghold near the border with Lebanon, a man kicked and tore down a poster of the prime minister's leading rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
asserted
man → kick → rival
In Tel Aviv, some families of those killed in the Hamas-led 2023 attack and families of former hostages held a moment of silence.
asserted
families → kill → silence
'Remember all those whose voices are no more,' said Yona Adam, the mother of Mapal Adam, who was killed.
asserted
who → remember → Adam
At a polling station set up in a Jerusalem school, some said they were voting for change while others said they only trusted Netanyahu to keep them secure.
asserted
they → set → them
'He's not responsible for October 7,' said Nisim Cohen, a reservist.
asserted
Cohen → say → October
He said he wants Netanyahu to win the election and continue the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and with Iran until Israelis can sleep peacefully.
asserted
Israelis → say → Iran
Zipporah Bennett, an 85-year-old retiree, also said she was voting for Netanyahu 'because he has had the experience of navigating the country through a lot of difficult seasons', praising his support from the US and adding: 'He's a man who's not afraid to take action.'
Alexandra, a 65-year-old voter in Jerusalem, said: 'I want change in our country.
asserted
I → say → country
I want a good democratic centrist government.'
asserted
I → want → government
Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, with hundreds of thousands of young people due to cast their ballot for the first time.
asserted
thousands → vote → time
Surveys show they overwhelmingly identify as centre-Right or Right-wing.
asserted
they → show → ?
Tens of thousands of Israelis are estimated to have flown in from abroad to vote in an election seen as crucial to deciding the future character of their country.
asserted
thousands → estimate → country
Turnout in the first three hours of the election was the highest at that stage since 1981, with the Central Elections Committee giving a figure of 16.68 percent.
'I think this is one of the most important election days in the history of the state of Israel,' Uriel Brandler, a 58-year-old real estate agent, said from Jerusalem the day before the vote, saying he hoped for change.
asserted
he → give → change
A record 74 per cent of Israelis turned out to vote on Tuesday, marking a high since records began in 1974
Israeli settlers line up to vote at a school serving as a polling station during Israel's general election in the settlement of Kiryat Arba
People prepare to vote at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm, Israel
Netanyahu, who was seen casting his vote in Jerusalem, called on Israelis to vote 'the right way' on Tuesday.
Eisenkot, Netanyahu's top rival, was up and meeting voters as polls opened in Ofakim, one of the communities in southern Israel that was attacked by Hamas-led militants on October 7.
asserted
that → turn → October
Eisenkot lost his son and two nephews to combat in Gaza.
asserted
Eisenkot → lose → Gaza
The visit was likely aimed at reminding voters of the security failures ahead of the deadliest militant attack on Israel in its history, and of Netanyahu's refusal of a state commission of inquiry into them.
asserted
visit → aim → them
Meanwhile, wearing his trademark noose-shaped lapel pin, hard-Right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir cast his ballot in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, where his supporters had set up banners and speakers
Thousands of volunteer Israeli election observers were in place at polling stations across the country to monitor the election.
asserted
Thousands → wear → election
Eyal Sher said he volunteered with a civil society group called Elections Guards because he wanted to play a role in such a critical vote.
asserted
he → say → vote
'We have a corrupt government that will do anything to stay in power,' he said.
asserted
he → have → power
'Every vote counts and we want to make sure the procedures are kept intact.'
asserted
procedures → count → ?
According to Israel's Central Election Committee, more than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote, including around 330,000 young Israelis who spent their high school years in the shadow of war.
uncertain
who → accord → war
The polling stations - around 12,000 of them - will close in most places at 10 pm.
asserted
stations → close → pm
Ballots are manually counted at each polling station immediately after voting ends.
asserted
voting → count → station
Netanyahu has been Israel's most dominant politician for nearly two decades, and a poor showing could end the 77-year-old's lengthy career on a bitter note and open the door to a new era in Israeli politics.
uncertain
showing → end → politics
A victory would cement his image as the ultimate political survivor.
asserted
victory → cement → survivor
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump backed Netanyahu's reelection, but the late endorsement still marked a setback for the Likud politician who had billed his tight ties to the Republican president as a selling point for staying in power.
asserted
who → back → power
Netanyahu has been a master at forming coalitions with religious and nationalist partners.
asserted
Netanyahu → form → partners
But opinion polls now suggest a tight race between his bloc and the one led by Eisenkot, which says Netanyahu should be held accountable for October 7 and the failure to turn battlefield victories into diplomatic achievements.
asserted
Netanyahu → suggest → achievements
Eisenkot has pledged to establish an independent state commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the attack, something Netanyahu's government has resisted.
asserted
government → pledge → attack
Seeking to unseat the premier is an informal bloc of parties led by Eisenkot's Yashar and spanning from the Right to the centre-Left - including former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as seasoned politician Avigdor Lieberman and Left-leaning Yair Golan.
asserted
bloc → seek → ministers
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
