2022 election data: cities that predicted the result

With hours to go before the first exit polls, Israel is holding its breath. We went back to the 2022 election results to find the places that best reflect the country's political map: the cities whose vote mirrored the national outcome, the neighborhoods where nearly everyone voted the same way, and the areas with the highest and lowest turnout.

The cities that called it

According to Central Elections Committee data, Rehovot was the city that most accurately reflected the national result. Likud led there with 26% of the vote, compared to 23% nationally, and Yesh Atid came second with 23%, versus 18% across the country. Religious Zionism took 13% in Rehovot against 10.8% nationally, and the National Unity party of Benny Gantz — remember him? — won 10.6% compared to 9.1% nationwide.

The chareidi parties also performed in Rehovot almost exactly as they did nationally. Only the Arab parties, which received almost no votes in Rehovot, showed a significant difference from their national share.

After Rehovot, Petach Tikva came closest to mirroring the national vote, followed by Hadera, Netanya and Holon.

2026 elections (Photo: Chaim Goldberg, Flash90)

Where each party dominated

Likud: The moshav of Gadish in the Jezreel Valley is the most Likud-voting place in Israel, with 74% of residents backing the party. In Rechov and Sdei Trumot in the Beit Shean Valley, 69% voted Likud, and in Giv'olim, 67%. Other cities with neighborhoods where Likud won over 50% include Kiryat Shmona, Kiryat Ata, Or Yehuda and Lod.

By neighborhood, the Shazar neighborhood in Or Akiva had the highest Likud vote at 58.5%. Neve Alon in Acre and the Wadi Raqat and Ramez neighborhoods in Tiberias also gave Likud over 55%, as did seven neighborhoods in Dimona.

United Torah Judaism: In Komemiyut, near Kiryat Gat, 93.7% of voters chose the party. The city with the highest UTJ vote was Modi'in Illit, where 77.5% of 27,000 voters backed the party. Among major cities, Bnei Brak led with 59.8% of its 87,000 voters choosing UTJ.

By neighborhood, UTJ was the leading party in 64 neighborhoods. In three of them, it won over 80%: Kiryat Vizhnitz (84.4%) and Kiryat Nadvorna (80%) in Bnei Brak, and Romema in Yerushalayim (81.5%).

Yesh Atid: Kfar HaMaccabi had the highest share for the party at 55.3%, followed by Beit Yannai at 52.7%. Among cities, Ramat Hasharon led with 42.2% voting for Yesh Atid.

By neighborhood, Yesh Atid was strongest in Neve Gan/Kiryat Shaul in Ramat Hasharon (51.5%). Ramat Aviv Gimmel and Tel Baruch in northern Tel Aviv also gave the party 51%. Of the 20 neighborhoods where Yesh Atid led, ten were in Tel Aviv, all in the northern part of the city.

Shas: In Elad, the party won 49.6% of the vote. In Rechasim, it took 47.5%. By neighborhood, the Netaim neighborhood in Netivot was Shas's strongest base at 61.3%.

Highest turnout

Unsurprisingly, most of the neighborhoods with the highest turnout were chareidi. District 7 in Ashdod recorded 88.1% turnout, Agan HaAyalot in Givat Zeev, home to chareidi and dati residents, had 85.8%, and the chareidi Ganei Hadar neighborhood in Petach Tikva reached 85.4%. Also at the top: Neve Achiezer, Ramat Elchanan and Shikun Hey in Bnei Brak, HaGefen and HaTamar in Beitar Illit, and Netaim in Netivot.

Lowest turnout

At the bottom of the list is also a chareidi neighborhood: Meah Shearim in Yerushalayim, where turnout was just 23.2%. Above it, downtown Eilat saw 25.7% turnout, and the hotel strip in Netanya just 30%. Other neighborhoods with very low turnout included additional areas in Eilat, Neve Sha'anan in Tel Aviv, and the Kiryat Eliezer, Tel Amal and Neve Paz neighborhoods in Haifa.

For those keeping score, the neighborhood with the absolute lowest turnout was Arab a-Sawachra in eastern Yerushalayim, where many residents are not Israeli citizens.