IDF Soldiers Begin Voting in Knesset Elections Across All Theaters

Approximately 850 military polling stations have been deployed across Israel and beyond its borders, including positions in Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip. The network stretches from Mount Hermon in the north to Eilat in the south. About a quarter of these stations are mobile units designed to reach troops in remote and active combat zones. Around 3,000 soldiers, primarily conscripts trained by the Central Elections Committee, are serving as poll workers.

IDF Elections Officer Colonel Vered Ben Yehuda stated that the military's mission is to ensure all service members can exercise their democratic right to a secret ballot, even during operational activity and combat beyond the border. Soldiers can vote at any military polling station using a double-envelope system to preserve secrecy, or at civilian polling stations near their residence on election day, provided they vote only once. Ballots will be transferred to the Central Elections Committee in Jerusalem for counting.

This election is the first national vote since the October 7 Hamas-led attack and the subsequent war. Approximately 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote, choosing from 38 competing slates. Recent polls project a continued political stalemate, with neither major bloc expected to secure a governing majority. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party is polling as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.