🔴Live: Netanyahu's party asks to extend Israeli election hours amid record turnout

Live: Netanyahu's party asks to extend Israeli election hours amid record turnout Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party on Tuesday called for voting hours to be extended in the Israel's national elections as it fought to mobilise supporters. National authorities reported record turnout as Israel holds its first national elections since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates. Right-wing politicians claim 'insane' voter turnout in Arab sectors Right-wing politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit party and Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism party both visited Arab towns Tuesday to film videos warning their supporters about high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel. “This mad rush must wake us up,” Strock said, standing behind policemen in the town of Rehat. Ben-Gvir visited the northern Israeli town of Kafr Qasem to make a similar plea. “The voter turnout in the Arab sector is insane. Absolutely insane,” Ben-Gvir said in a video posted Tuesday afternoon, without providing evidence. “If you want this country to remain Jewish and Zionist … then get out and vote!” Netanyahu's party asks to extend Israeli election hours as it mobilises voters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party asked election authorities on Tuesday to extend polling hours as it sought to mobilise voters. "We have submitted a request to extend voting hours," Likud said in a message on Telegram. In photos: Israeli's vote in tense national elections A Palestinian citizen of Israel casts her ballot at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm. (© Mahmoud Illean, AP) Ultra-Orthodox Jewish voters wait in line to vote at a polling station in the Bukharim Quarter in Jerusalem. (© John Wessels, AFP) A Netanyahu supporter shouts slogans at a market in Tel Aviv on the day of Israel's general election. (© Baz Ratner, AP) A supporter of the Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, arranges electoral banners outside a polling station in Jerusalem. (© Jewel Samad, AFP) Israeli Arab leader accuses Netanyahu of 'lying, inciting' with election fraud claims The leader of a key Israeli Arab party accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of incitement through his allegations of fraud on behalf of the minority group in Tuesday's elections. "Benjamin Netanyahu is lying and inciting against the United Arab List, using it as a scare tactic to mobilise right-wing voters and drive them to the polls," the list's leader Mansour Abbas said in a video message. Israel votes in decisive election: What happens after polls close? Israelis are voting in a pivotal election Tuesday as their country wrestles with unresolved wars, continues to reel from Hamas's 2023 attack and is deeply divided over the character of the state and the right person to lead it. FRANCE 24's International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley has more. 55% voter turnout as of 4pm local time Turnout high as Israeli voters deliver verdict on Netanyahu Israelis flocked to the polls Tuesday in turnout unseen in decades, with a deeply divided electorate delivering a verdict on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the first election since the October 7, 2023 attack. Former FRANCE 24 correspondent Irris Makler reports. Strong participation in Arab communities drives overall record turnout Reports of record turnout overall and particularly strong participation in Arab communities is adding a new dimension to Israel's closely contested race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot. Israeli opposition party warns PM 'laying groundwork' for election challenge The party of Gadi Eisenkot, the main challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned the premier was preparing to challenge the results of Tuesday's election by claiming it was being stolen. "Netanyahu is in a panic -- and he's laying the groundwork to challenge the results," Eisenkot's Yashar party said. "We have to be ahead of Likud by a huge margin; only then will there be no room to sow doubt about the results." Israeli PM casts ballot as voters voice opposition to Netanyahu outside polling stations FRANCE 24's Clovis Casali reports from Jerusalem. - Israel voter turnout in first half of day highest on record - Netanyahu says 'they're trying to steal the election', attacks Arab parties - Netanyahu rival Eisenkot urges voters to unseat 'worst govt' in Israeli history - Israeli opposition party warns PM 'laying groundwork' for election challenge - Netanyahu's party asks to extend Israeli election hours as it mobilises voters Israel voter turnout in first half of day highest on record Turnout in Tuesday's Israeli election was at the highest level on record at the midway point, the Central Elections Commission said. As of 2pm (1200 GMT), 3.29 million Israelis, or 44.9 percent of eligible voters, had cast a ballot, the highest turnout since the commission started recording such statistics in 1973, its head Dean Livne said. Police arrest knife-carrying man threatening Israeli left-wing leader Police have arrested a man with a knife who moved threateningly towards Yair Golan, leader of Israel's main left-wing party, as he mobilised voters in Tel Aviv on election day, his party said. "Incitement and violence will not intimidate us," Golan said in a statement, blaming the incident on the "poison machine" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sharply attacked the left in his campaign. Golan was trying to get out the vote at a park in Tel Aviv when a stranger approached him in a threatening manner, said his party, The Democrats. When Golan's security guards blocked the man, a large knife fell out of his clothing, the party added. The security guards then arrested him. Police confirmed that the man was arrested and had been carrying a knife. They said he was a Jerusalem resident in his 20s. Netanyahu rival Eisenkot urges voters to unseat 'worst govt' in Israeli history Gadi Eisenkot, the main election challenger of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urged voters on Tuesday to oust the "worst government" in Israel's history. "I call on all citizens of Israel to go vote, not to buckle under the heat or the disruptions, to stick to the mission: to replace tonight the worst government since the state was established," he said. Netanyahu says 'they're trying to steal the election', attacks Arab parties Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday renewed his attacks on Arab parties, warning after casting his ballot that "they're trying to steal the election" after reports that individuals were arrested with envelopes of cash. Election authorities said the "people had not yet reached the polling stations" and were caught near their homes, adding that the matter was under investigation. "There are no similar incidents of this kind across the country; this was a localised case," the central elections committee said. Early turnout in Israel vote highest since 1981, elections committee says Voter turnout in the first three hours of Israel's pivotal general election stood at 16.68 percent, the Central Elections Committee said on Tuesday, the highest at this stage of the vote since 1981. "By 10 am, more than 1,200,000 Israelis had voted. The nationwide voter turnout stands at 16.68 percent," Dean Livne, acting director general of the committee, said in a televised statement. Arab-Israeli parties could be 'kingmakers' after elections Ahmad Tibi, a leader on Israel's Joint List, has also cast his ballot in the occupied West Bank. The far-left Joint List is made up of the Arab-Jewish communist party Hadash and the Arab nationalist parties Taal and Balad. It supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arab Israelis, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, account for about 21% of the country's population. They are descendants of Palestinians who remained within Israel's borders after the state's creation in 1948, and have long complained of discrimination from Israel's Jewish majority. Arab-majority lists could be the kingmakers in Israel's close-fought elections. Palestinian candidate Ahmad Tibi of the Joint List, vites with his family in the Arab village of Taibe, northern Israel, October 27, 2026. (Photo: Ammar Awad, Reuters) Ben Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, votes Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has voted at a polling station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. “God willing I will become defence minister, it will be good for the soldiers and good for the people of Israel,” Ben-Gvir told reporters. Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party gained support in opinion polls ahead of Tuesday's vote. He is perhaps the most visible of Netanyahu’s allies, with his public taunting of Palestinian detainees. Itamar Ben-Gvir casts his ballot, accompanied by his wife Ayala, at a polling station in Kiryat Arba settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Photo: Ilia Yefimovich, AFP) (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters) Keywords for this article