Netanyahu’s Likud party asks for extending voting hours amid Arab ‘turnout surge’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party asked election authorities on Tuesday to extend polling hours after he warned his supporters about Arab voters’ high turnout and the highest overall participation in decades.

“We have submitted a request to extend voting hours,” the ruling Likud party said in a message on Telegram.

Polling stations opened at 7 am and are scheduled to close at 10 pm.

The Central Elections Committee had said earlier in the day that stations would stay open past 10 pm for anyone still waiting in line.

The elections committee said 44.9% of eligible voters had cast ballots by 2 pm, the highest ever recorded at that hour and the highest since the 1973 elections.

More than 7.3 million people are eligible to vote at 12,018 polling stations for the 120-seat Knesset.

‘Future of Jewish state at stake,’ warns Netanyahu

Arab citizens make up about 21% of Israel’s population, roughly 2.1 million people. Pollsters had expected their turnout to rise sharply from about 53% in 2022, with estimates ranging from 63% to as high as 70%.

Long queues were reported in some Arab communities, while Rahat, the largest Arab city, recorded 36.9% turnout by noon.

In a video to Likud voters, Netanyahu said Arab voters in southern Israel were “racing to the ballots” and were “trying to steal the election from us.”

He cited the reported arrests of three Ra’am activists on suspicion of bribing voters, and claimed Arab turnout in the Negev was far higher than among Jewish voters.

“No beach, no barbecue, everyone goes out to vote Likud,” he said, adding that the future of the Jewish state was at stake.

He warned in a social media post that without a strong right-wing turnout, Israel would “find ourselves with a government of the Arab parties.”

Transport Minister Miri Regev wrote on X, “They’re trying to steal the election and the country from us.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also attributed the high turnout to greater participation by Arab voters.

Rivals push back, communities complain of ‘deliberate delays’

The Yashar party of Netanyahu’s main rival Gadi Eisenkot opposed Likud’s request to extend voting hours, saying “no unusual incident has occurred that would justify approving the request.”

The party said that the Likud bid is intended to “lay the groundwork for claims against the integrity of the election, following the lies Netanyahu has been spreading since this morning.”

The Joint List said turnout in Jewish communities remained higher than in Arab ones, contrary to Netanyahu’s claims, and said he circulated AI-generated images presented as coming from polling stations in Sakhnin and the Negev.

Some Arab communities reported slow identification procedures and long lines, with accusations that the delays were deliberate.

The required majority for government formation in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset is 61.

Observers expect the outcome to become clear by dawn on Wednesday, with official results due on November 4.

Earlier in the day, Dean Livne, the acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, said polling stations would remain open after 10 pm if people were still waiting in line to vote.