Israel’s election committee rejects Netanyahu’s Likud request to extend voting hours

Israel's Central Elections Committee rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party to extend voting hours beyond 10 pm (2000GMT) on Tuesday.

The committee's presidium decided that polling stations would close at the scheduled time of 10 pm, according to a statement.

Voters who joined queues before the deadline, however, would be allowed to cast ballots after that time.

Likud had sought to extend voting hours, while Otzma Yehudit requested to join the petition, citing congestion and unusually long waits at polling stations.

Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party said it "strongly opposes" Likud's request, arguing that no exceptional circumstances justified extending voting hours.

The party accused Likud of attempting to lay the groundwork for challenges to the election's integrity, describing the move as a continuation of "the lies Netanyahu has been spreading since the morning hours."

Voter turnout in Israel's hard-fought parliamentary (Knesset) elections reached 66.7% as of 6 pm (1600GMT), the highest recorded for that hour since 1973, according to the Central Elections Committee.

More than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote in the election to choose members of the 120-seat Knesset.

Polling stations opened at 7 am local time.

The vote marks Israel's first general election since the start of its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.