Up to 67,000 Israelis Abroad Fly Home to Vote in Tight Election
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Oct 25
Up to 67,000 Israelis Abroad Fly Home to Vote in Tight Election
3 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Oct 25
Summary
Up to 67,000 Israelis living abroad are expected to return for Tuesday’s election, a rare mobilization driven by Israel’s in-person voting rules and the race’s unusually high stakes.
Thousands are spending heavily to travel from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, with many saying they want to push back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what they see as democratic erosion.
The vote is Israel’s first national election since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks and subsequent wars, and is widely viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu’s wartime leadership and the country’s hard-right shift.
Polls point to a close contest among more than 7.3 million registered voters, so even a modest expatriate surge could matter, though analysts say not all returning voters oppose Netanyahu.
The turnout push comes after record emigration since 2022, with some former Netanyahu backers saying Oct. 7 failures, the Gaza and West Bank wars, and the 2025 Iran conflict changed their vote.