Southern Israel Voters Stranded by Flooding Ahead of Knesset Election Deadline

Security forces closed several key routes in the south, including Highway 90, Highway 40, Highway 25, Highway 13, and Highway 12, cutting off access to and from Eilat, with an exception only for travel to Ramon Airport. The closures trapped residents of the Arava Desert and Moshav Neot HaKikar near the Dead Sea, who expressed deep concern that they would not be able to cast their ballots before polling stations closed.

While smaller communities in the Arava Desert faced a 7:00 PM deadline, other polling stations nationwide were scheduled to close at 10:00 PM. Stranded voters contacted the Central Elections Committee and the police to request extended voting hours or the reopening of the roads, but did not receive an immediate resolution. Forecasters expected the storm to move north toward central Israel later in the evening.