Israel elections: Early voting begins abroad as Netanyahu faces Gadi Eisenkot challenge | Race to Power

The first tranche of voting has begun in the high-octane elections in Israel. While polling day in the country is on October 27, diplomatic missions outside Israel have cast their ballots.

More than 100 polling stations opened at 99 diplomatic missions across the world for over 4,800 eligible absentee voters.

The next early phase of voting will be for the defence forces. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will commence early voting next week for its soldiers deployed on bases or overseas.

As for the main voting day, preparations are well underway across the country. Israel’s Election Committee is working to set up over 15,000 polling stations. More than 6.7 million eligible voters will exercise their franchise in the upcoming Knesset polls.

With precious days still remaining, contesting candidates are pulling out all the stops in their campaigns to sway voters.

Netanyahu’s main rival in this election, Gadi Eisenkot, has vowed to end the rule of Hamas in Gaza if he is voted to power.

Eisenkot accused the current administration of “giving room and legitimacy to Hamas” and subsequently failing strategically.

The former IDF chief of staff is positioned as a favourite to defeat the incumbent prime minister.

The latest polls show Eisenkot as the more suitable prime minister, according to Israelis, with a 43 per cent vote share, as opposed to the 38 per cent of Israelis who chose Netanyahu in the survey.