Polling stations are open for local elections in Israel. They were scheduled for October but were postponed twice after the October 7 attack in the country. Just over seven million Israelis are voting as the conflict that erupted after the attack continues and as Israeli military operations against Hamas take place in the Gaza Strip. In most Israeli cities you can vote until 10 p.m. These are the first elections since the conflict began. Voters elect mayors, municipal and regional councils. Instead, voting will take place on November 19 in areas of Israel near the border with Gaza and Lebanon that were evacuated during the conflict.
The war will be “an important factor,” emphasizes a Jerusalem Post editorial, which asks what impact this could have on local councils, precisely because the areas “most significantly affected” are those in which will no longer be voted on because the residents who were already there were forced to leave these areas. And there are the Israeli hostages who have been held captive in the Gaza Strip since October 7th. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is allowing all soldiers the right to vote, including those fighting in Gaza, the Times of Israel points out, reporting on the electoral process that began for them on February 20.