Live: Israelis head to the polls as Netanyahu fights for political life

Israel's Central Elections Committee on Tuesday rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party to extend voting beyond 10 pm local time.

"High nationwide turnout across all sectors of society reflects strong public engagement in the democratic process, and no need to extend voting hours was identified," a commission statement said.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has urged right-wing voters to cast their ballots, claiming that unprecedented turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel could help bring a “dangerous left-wing government” to power.

“Do not despair! It is still possible to win,” Smotrich said in a post on X.

Palestinian politicians have accused right-wing figures of incitement against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20 percent of the country’s population.

Israeli police have seized ballot boxes in the town of Arara in the Negev, Al Jazeera reported, citing Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List.

The network also said police are preventing the voting process from continuing in the electoral area.

Netanyahu is using the political group as a “scarecrow” to mobilise right-wing voters, Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra’am, or the United Arab List, said.

Abbas wrote in a social media post that the United Arab List appeals to our people for their support and votes” and added that his party “will bring down Benjamin Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir in this election”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners made a last-ditch push on Tuesday to get their supporters to the polls, warning of a surging Arab voter turnout, a tactic Palestinian politicians denounced as racist and inflammatory.

Cars flying Netanyahu's Likud party flags drove through Jerusalem blaring the Islamic call to prayer and urging supporters to cast their ballots because "Arabs are voting", witnesses said.

"If we don't wake up now, we'll find ourselves with a government of Mansour Abbas and Ahmed Tibi," Netanyahu wrote in a post, referring to two leading Palestinian politicians in Israel.

Tibi, a candidate from an Arab party, said strong turnout among Israel's Arab minority would "pave the way for an alternative government and change the grave reality".

Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Arab Balad party, wrote on X that long lines outside polling stations should bring "pride and joy to anyone who believed in democracy".

"We are receiving all these inciting messages from the petty racists, Ben Gvir, Netanyahu, and their partners. What are they afraid of? This is actually an excellent sight, it is good for democracy."

The party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main election challenger said it "firmly opposes" a call from the premier's party to extend voting hours on Tuesday, calling it a pretext for a future challenge to the poll's legitimacy.

"No exceptional incident has occurred that would justify granting this request, which is intended to lay the groundwork for allegations challenging the integrity of the election, continuing the lies Netanyahu has been spreading since this morning," ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party said.

An Israeli voter has told Middle East Eye that current elections in Israel were existential.

Fatima Hassan Bakri, a 77-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel, said this was the first time she had "felt the weight of the moment as I cast my ballot, because these elections are different from any other."

"This vote is a vote for survival and for our very existence. A vote for our children who emigrate because there are no jobs. A vote against fear, terror and inequality," she said.

"I call on every woman to come out and vote with her children. We make up half of society, so we should make our voices heard."

Netanyahu's Likud party has submitted a request to extend the voting hours beyond 1opm.

Times of Israel said that the ultra-Orthodox Shas party had also requested an extension.

“The parties are trying to prevent a situation in which citizens waiting in line won’t be able to vote," they party said in a statement.

Getting rid of Netanyahu's "racist" government should be a priority for Israelis, an Israeli voter told Middle East Eye.

Kassim Titi, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the Galilee, said that the Israeli prime minister and his far-right allies Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich had fomented severe hatred against Palestinians.

He said the "government is racist and led by Ben Gvir and Smotrich."

"The way they treat Arabs is not right. We want to live in peace, stability and security and we want equality between Jews and Arabs," he said.

Mansour Abbas, leader of the Palestinian-led Ra'am party, has accused Netanyahu of inciting against his party through claiming they were engaged in electoral fraud.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is lying and inciting against Ra’am, using it as a scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls,” he said in a video message.

An Israeli voter en route to vote in the city of Or Yehuda, near Tel Aviv, told Middle East Eye that she would be voting for Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party as "Netanyahu is a psychopath."

Orly Neiger, a 60-year-old physiotherapist and mother-of-two, said she believed Eisenkot and his allies were still right-wing, but nevertheless "people who use their heads - unlike those who vote for Netanyahu out of fear".

She said she would rather have voted for the centre-left The Democrats party led by Yair Golan, but would be casting her vote for Eisenkot as she had "a good friend who works in the Knesset with Eisenkot, and out of respect for his work, I’ll be voting for their list."

"Netanyahu is a psychopath - he’s not a leader," she said.

"He’s incoherent, irresponsible, refuses to take responsibility, fails to see all segments of the nation, and is incapable of engaging with the living, breathing people of Israel."

Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Muslim Brotherhood supporters are "raiding" the polling stations in Israel.

"We're at war for our home. Muslim Brotherhood supporters are raiding the polling stations and stealing the elections," he wrote on X.

"Go out and vote, recover it."

Voter turnout at 2pm was the highest in an Israeli election since 1973, according to Israel's election committee.

As of 2pm local time 44.9 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots.

Delays and long lines have been reported at polling stations in Palestinian communities in Israel, according to a monitor.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, told Haaretz that there had been systemic delays observed.

"There are numerous reports of severe slowdowns at many polling stations," said Yeela Raanan, an Adalah monitor observing election integrity in Bedouin communities.

Adalah said police officers were checking voters' identities at polling station entrances and delaying their entry, while polling station committees were also conducting voting procedures slowly and asking irrelevent questions of voters.

Some committees, they added, allegedly closed polling station doors and suspended voting.

The group said it had submitted a complaint to Israel's election committee.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee faced criticism on Tuesday after he appeared to imply Palestinian citizens of Israel were not Israeli.

In a post, Huckabee praised the Israeli electoral system because, among other reasons, "Arabs vote same as Israelis."

Today is election day in Israel, which is a national holiday. All voting is in person, ID required. No mail-in or absentee ballots. Arabs vote same as Israelis. Contentious process, but it's a democracy-not many of those in this region!

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 27, 2026

Israelis on X were quick to point out that the "Arab" voters in Israel were also Israeli citizens.

Palestinian citizens of Israel, unlike the majority of Palestinians, have the right to vote in Israeli elections.