As Israel holds its first elections since the Gaza genocide, opposition factions urge massive turnout to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule, as his Likud party reportedly plotted to film Palestinian voters to manufacture claims of electoral fraud.
Voting began at 7:00 am local time for some 7.3 million eligible voters in an election widely seen as a pivotal verdict on Netanyahu’s nearly two-decade rule, his ongoing corruption trials, and his leadership during a devastating multi-front regional war.
Opposition leaders have spent the final hours of the campaign desperately urging settlers to the polls, warning that a low turnout could hand victory to the regime's most far-right and ultra-Orthodox factions.
Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party and former minister of military affairs, took to social media platform X to rally voters.
“Vote. Let’s put an end to the Netanyahu era and the rule of the Haredim,” Lieberman wrote, referring to the ultra-Orthodox religious groups that hold immense sway over Netanyahu’s current coalition.
Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief, insisted that replacing Netanyahu requires his faction, the opposition Yashar party, to emerge as the largest political force.
“There is only one path to achieving change and replacing Netanyahu, and that is the Yashar path,” Eisenkot stated.
As the opposition seeks to remove Netanyahu, figures like Eisenkot remain staunchly opposed to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state and continue to support the illegal occupation, despite UN resolutions demanding a two-state solution.
Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party, warned voters to brace for a massive disinformation blitz designed to suppress turnout.
“In the coming hours, Netanyahu and his associates will flood you with fake news and misleading messages in an attempt to undermine the elections by spreading lies and illusions,” Kariv warned. “Our response must be a massive turnout at the polls.”
Likud’s plot to suppress Palestinian voters
Looming over the election are reports of coordinated voter suppression tactics targeting Palestinian citizens in the occupied 1948 territories.
According to a report by the Haaretz daily, Netanyahu’s Likud party has spent millions of shekels recruiting and paying operatives to film Palestinian voters outside polling stations.
Because the operatives are stationed outside rather than inside the voting centers, they bypass strict regulations governing official election observers.
The reported goal is to weaponize the footage to manufacture claims of "electoral fraud" if the right-wing bloc suffers major losses—a strategy closely mirroring the baseless fraud allegations pushed by US President Donald Trump following his 2020 election defeat.
“2022 was a trial run for the current election,” a senior Likud official involved in the operation admitted, indicating that the illegally obtained footage could be circulated as purported evidence of rigging, despite the teams having no legal authority to verify voter identities.
A leader wanted for war crimes
The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the political survival of the 77-year-old Netanyahu, who is currently standing trial on corruption charges including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, which could result in imprisonment.
More significantly, Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the regime's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, where more than 74,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered since October 2023.
Throughout the campaign, Netanyahu has leaned heavily on his alliance with Washington, while relying on a coalition of far-right, ultra-Orthodox settlers.
This includes figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who cast his ballot in the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied West Bank, surrounded by supporters and banners.
While the opposition has criticized Netanyahu for shielding ultra-Orthodox settlers from military conscription, one of the primary domestic grievances against him is his refusal to take responsibility for the security failures of October 7.
Eisenkot has pledged to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the failures, a move Netanyahu’s cabinet has fiercely resisted.
As the polls prepare to close at 10:00 pm local time, Palestinian-majority political lists—who represent roughly 21 percent of the population—remain heavily marginalized by both major blocs.
However, with final results expected to take days and an outright majority of 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset highly unlikely, these Palestinian lists could ultimately emerge as kingmakers in the chaotic coalition negotiations that will follow.
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