As polls opened across Israel on Tuesday morning, the leaders of the parties vying for the 26th Knesset made their way to the ballot box, many of them urging supporters to turn out in force.
26th knesset elections
Israel’s Party Leaders Cast Their Ballots | IN COLOR
From Bennett in Ra’anana to Ben-Gvir in Kiryat Arba, Israel’s party leaders headed to the polls Tuesday as voting opened for the 26th Knesset.
Naftali Bennett, who heads the Together alliance, voted in Ra’anana, calling it a fateful day for the country’s future. Democrats chairman Yair Golan brought his grandson along to his polling station in Rosh HaAyin, describing the day as “a morning of tremendous hope.”
On the right, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit voted in Kiryat Arba, and Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich voted in Kedumim. Ofer Winter, whose Amcha Yisrael party is fighting to cross the electoral threshold, cast his ballot in his home community of Mitzpe Netofa and urged voters to “vote with your heart.”
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri voted in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood. Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas voted in Maghar, saying his party could complete the next coalition, while Joint List chairman Youssef Jabarin voted at a school in Umm el-Fahm.
The two men at the center of the race have busy days planned. Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot began his morning in Ofakim and Nir Oz, and is scheduled to vote in Herzliya in the early afternoon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to vote with his wife, Sara, at the Gonenim school in Jerusalem at 11 a.m., and to visit the Western Wall this evening.
Polls close at 10 p.m., when the first exit polls will be released.
