This compares to 42.3% of the public who had voted by this time in the last election, in March 2021.

A total of 6,788,804 citizens are eligible to vote at more than 12,000 stations set up across the country.

As of 2 p.m., 38.9% of eligible Israelis had cast ballots; as of 12 p.m., the figure stood at 28.4%; and as of 10 a.m., 15.9% of those eligible had voted.

The high turnout reflects the electorate's trust in the Jewish state's democratic system, said Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a visit to the CEC at the Knesset.

"It's very impressive to see this diverse, sophisticated, supervised and responsible operation, and I am convinced that the CEC will do its work faithfully and of course will thus reflect the public's confidence in the electoral process," Herzog added.

"Go vote and make a difference, because each vote has an impact," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid cast his ballot on Tuesday morning at a polling station set up at the Ramat Aviv Gimmel School in north Tel Aviv. "Vote wisely; vote for the State of Israel, the future of our children and our future in general," Lapid said.

Opposition leader and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu cast a ballot in Jerusalem, calling exercising the democratic right "a great privilege." He said early voting trends showed higher turnout in "left-wing areas" and urged supporters of his Likud Party to head to the polls.

"I'm a little bit worried, but with the help of everyone who hears us, I hope the day will end in a smile," Netanyahu added.

Three final polls published ahead of the election all showed Netanyahu's right-wing/religious bloc standing one seat shy of a parliamentary majority in the 120-member Knesset.

Tuesday marks Israel's fifth national vote in less than four years. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Voting closes at 10 p.m., at which point preliminary exit polls will be released.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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