00:00So that's how the situation is currently at the Tel Aviv airport where my colleague Pranay is currently present.
00:06So tens of thousands of Israeli expatriates are flying back to Israel in unprecedented numbers
00:13to cast their ballots in person for the October 27 election.
00:17So just two days ahead of the election, that's how the situation looks like at the airport
00:21with Israelis returning to their home country in order to cast their vote for this very crucial election
00:28because Israel does not allow absentee or remote mail-in voting for general citizens abroad.
00:33Voters are funding their own travel from the United States, Europe and Canada to participate in these elections.
00:40Under Israeli law, remote voting is exclusively restricted to diplomats and official emissaries,
00:46meaning all other citizens must be physically present inside Israel to vote.
00:51The grassroots initiatives Fly and Vote estimates that as many as 67,000 expatriates
00:57plan to travel back.
00:58In fact, many of them have already arrived in Israel, as my colleague Pranay was showing.
01:03A massive surge compared to previous elections, which typically drew fewer than 10,000 overseas voters.
01:10Analysts estimate that this expat influx could shift up to two Nesad seats,
01:15which could decide whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secures a coalition
01:19or opposition parties successfully oust him.
01:23I'm very excited.
01:24And where have you come from?
01:26From Baku.
01:28Oh, you are coming from Baku, Azerbaijan.
01:30Yes.
01:30And for how many days you're going to be here?
01:32Two weeks.
01:33You know, you have elections only once every few years.
01:36This is your chance to influence the future of the country.
01:39So this year felt even more important than usual because we had a few years that were not so easy.
01:44So a lot of people were Israelis, but they live abroad.
01:47They felt like they have to come here this year and vote.
01:49And we hear about maybe 67,000 Israelis who are coming here, flying especially to vote.
01:55It's a big number, but it's not as big as it could be because we have a few hundred thousand
01:59Israelis who live abroad.
02:00So, of course, it's a lot of money.
02:02It's a lot of time.
02:03Not everyone can afford that.
02:04But still, whoever can, it's a blessing.
02:09My colleague Pranayapadeh continues to stay with us from Tel Aviv.
02:13Pranay, a huge number of expats have now turned up to cast their vote in these upcoming elections.
02:18The usual numbers used to be 10,000, whereas this time it has gone up to 67,000.
02:24What could it mean for the current Benjamin Netanyahu government?
02:27How could this impact the upcoming polls?
02:31I think, you know, Anjali, that is the reason that a lot of, you know, questions, a lot of things
02:36are around this, you know, number, which is coming back home to cast their vote.
02:40And in fact, I could see, you know, some of the party representatives were also here to start their canvassing.
02:46The moment people have arrived back in Tel Aviv, you know, the party representatives were there to catch and to
02:51canvass and ask and persuade these voters to cast a vote in their favor.
02:55But certainly, you know, political analysts are believing that most of these expats are the people, those who think that
03:03there should be change.
03:04So, you know, that is the political analysis of people, those who are closely tracking the Israeli election here.
03:10And they think that this would be a vote for change.
03:13But we have to see because, you know, many people have raised the slogans.
03:16The moment they landed in, you know, Ben Gurion Airport, you know, I heard people supporting Prime Minister Netanyahu, people
03:26for the democracy of Israel.
03:28So, you can see excitement here.
03:30And as you can see that, you know, a large number of people are still around and interacting.
03:35So, it's actually, in any democracy for that matter, election is a festival.
03:39You know, people participate, people, you know, meet each other.
03:43And, in fact, this is the time when political parties also go for door-to-door campaigning, canvassing.
03:48And since you mentioned about the figure of 67,000, which is a large number as compared to the previous,
03:52you know, elections.
03:55And, you know, there are still two more days to go.
03:58So, we may see that, you know, this number can cross approximately 70,000, but we have to see that
04:04which way, you know, these expats or these, you know, non-resident Israelis would be casting their vote and whom
04:13they will be deciding to form the government in Israel.
04:16But this is considered as the most decisive and most defining election.
04:20And, in fact, not only people of Israel, Anjali, people for the entire West Asia region would be closely tracking
04:27this election because this is going to decide the course of action in the West Asia region at large at
04:33a time when, you know, there are threats which are being issued both from Washington, D.C. and Tehran, you
04:38know, about the re-ignition of the conflict, the ongoing West Asia conflict.
04:43And that is the reason that this is considered as a very important election which will decide and which will,
04:50you know, define the course of politics in Israel and also in the West Asia region at large.
04:56Absolutely, Pranay. And talking about vote for change, the opinion polls that have been conducted so far in Israel, the
05:04opinion polls and the reports state that Benjamin Netanyahu's opponent, Gandhi Eisenkot, is so far leading as per the opinion
05:12polls.
05:14Absolutely. Both, you know, Channel 12 and Ken News opinion polls clearly indicate that there is an edge which is
05:22being enjoyed by the Yashar party led by Gandhi Eisenkot, who was the IDF chief and now a politician.
05:28And he is leading a coalition led by the Yashar party.
05:33And, you know, they are contesting election against the current dispensation, which is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
05:39his Nikud party.
05:40And this is considered as a very closely contested election.
05:43And there could be many probabilities and possibilities which are also being talked about because, you know, in the recent
05:51past, in the recent history, there have been instances where, you know, election could not yield a decisive result.
05:57And therefore, you know, parties have to form coalition and, you know, in India, we know what the coalition politics
06:04is all about.
06:05So we have to see, wait and watch.
06:07But in all probability, the picture is likely to be clear that, you know, which way this election will swing
06:13by the midnight of 27th of October or maybe like, you know, by early hours of 28th of October,
06:21because that is a time when the counting will indicate that in whose favor people of Israel have voted.
06:28But, yes, numbers are clearly right now indicating that no one party or coalition is able to secure the magic
06:36number of 61,
06:37which is the majority number in the 120-seat Kinesit or the Israeli parliament.
06:42All right, Pranay, do stay with us.
06:44So that's how the situation looks like.
06:46Currently, the opinion polls have given an edge to Netanyahu's challenger, Gandhi Eisenkot.
