Voting began on Tuesday in Israel’s parliamentary elections, with more than 7.3 million people eligible to elect the 120-member Knesset.
Polling stations opened at 7 am local time (0500 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 10 pm (2000 GMT), according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
A total of 12,018 polling stations and around 18,000 ballot boxes have been prepared nationwide, with approximately 100,000 election workers deployed.
Thirty-seven parties and electoral lists are competing, with at least 61 seats needed to form a governing coalition.
The main contenders include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and the Together alliance led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Other prominent parties include the Democrats, led by Yair Golan; Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman; and Jewish Power, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Palestinian-led parties include the Joint List, headed by Yousef Jabareen, and the United Arab List (Ra’am), led by Mansour Abbas.