Tens of thousands of Israelis abroad fly in for pivotal election

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 25 Oct, 07:32 · Archive

Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to travel to Israel to vote in Tuesday's election, the first since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks.

Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are travelling to Israel to vote in Tuesday's election, the first since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks and ensuing wars in the region. Israeli law generally requires citizens to vote in person in the country, with narrow exceptions for diplomats and certain official emissaries abroad.

Yael Natra, 61, who has lived in Canada for two decades, spent thousands of dollars to travel nearly 6,000 miles from Toronto to Tel Aviv to vote. She said she had previously not considered it right to cast a ballot in a place she no longer lived, but changed her mind after seeing the far right gain power in Israel. She plans to vote for parties not aligned with the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying 'The Israel that I grew up in is disappearing' and citing an eroding democracy and deeply divided society.

According to AID Coalition, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on strengthening Israel's democracy, the election is one of the most consequential in Israel in years, widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's handling of the wars and the hard-right turn Israel has taken both domestically and on the world stage.

How it is being reported

• Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to fly in for pivotal voteTens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to fly in for this month’s election.Clickorlando · 25 Oct, 07:00
• Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to fly in for pivotal voteTens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are expected to fly in for this month’s election.News4Jax · 25 Oct, 07:00

In this story: Israel · Benjamin Netanyahu · Hamas · Canada · Tel Aviv · AID Coalition

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem