Israel elections: How they differ from Indian parliamentary polls
Israel is heading for elections on Tuesday, October 27, to elect representatives to the country’s 120-member parliament, also known as the Knesset. However, the polling is different from Indian parliamentary polls in many ways.
In the Middle Eastern country, voting is conducted using paper ballots, and electors vote for a political party’s candidate list rather than directly electing an individual representative from their constituency.
What do Israelis vote for?
In the Israeli elections, the entire country acts as one nationwide electoral constituency.
The voters, who are Israeli citizens at least 18 years old by election day and appear in the electoral register, can choose a party or electoral list, not an individual constituency candidate.
After the completion of the elections, parties in Israel receive seats broadly in proportion to their share of the vote.
It’s election day in Israel 🇮🇱
— Israel in India (@IsraelinIndia) October 27, 2026
Here are some facts about how elections work in Israel. 🗳️ pic.twitter.com/8jIoGlNFAW
However, a party list generally needs at least 3.25 per cent of valid votes to qualify for seats.
As parties receive seats broadly in proportion to their share of the vote, in Israel’s history, not once has a single party formed a government. All governments formed in Israel have been coalition governments.
Israel elections 2022
In the last elections held in 2022, the right-wing national camp of Benjamin Netanyahu won a parliamentary majority.
The coalition was formed by the Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and New Hope parties.
Among the parties in the coalition, the highest number of seats was bagged by Netanyahu-led Likud. It secured 32 seats.
The following is the list of parties and seat shares after the 2022 Israel elections:
How Indian parliamentary polls differ
For elections, India is divided into constituencies. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) based on the first-past-the-post system.
During the polls, voters vote for an individual candidate for their constituency, not directly for a political party. The voting is done on an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
Due to the first-past-the-post system, a party’s vote share is not directly proportional to its share of seats in Parliament.
In the 2024 elections, the vote share of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, was approximately 44 per cent, whereas its seat share was 53.96 per cent, as it won 293 seats.
On the other hand, the vote share of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), led by Congress, was approximately 42 per cent, whereas its seat share was 43.09 per cent, as it won 234 seats.
7.3 million set to vote in Israel elections
Today, 7.3 million eligible voters are set to cast their ballots to elect representatives to the country’s 120-member parliament.
Following the elections, the Israeli president would decide which party would get the first opportunity to form a government after the votes were counted. The party would have 28 days to secure the support of other parties and build a governing coalition.
With opinion polls indicating no clear majority for any party or coalition, several political scenarios remain possible, including another round of elections.
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This content is published by The Siasat Daily and has not been created or edited by Hello Headlines. View original
