Israelis head to polls in first general election since 7 October attacks with no clear favourite

Israel’s election is on a knife-edge as voters head to the polls today, with the final surveys showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu neck and neck with his main centrist challenger, Gadi Eisenkot. It is the country’s first general election since the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023. Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, including hundreds of thousands casting a ballot for the first time, while tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad are thought to have flown home to take part. Netanyahu, 77, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held the post on and off for more than 19 years.