Israel records highest election turnout by 10 a.m. since at least 1996

Israel’s voter turnout reached 16.7% by 10 a.m., with approximately 1.2 million people casting ballots, according to the Central Elections Committee.

The figure exceeds the 15.9% turnout recorded at the same hour in the 2022 election and marks the highest early turnout since at least 1996, when Benjamin Netanyahu first became prime minister.

The committee has maintained official hourly turnout records only since 1996, though some media outlets, citing archival data, have reported that turnout is the highest at this point in the day since 1981.