A vote on what kind of Israel

Israelis cast ballots in the first general election since the October 7, 2023 attacks, and they did so in numbers the country has rarely seen. The high voter turnout has been framed by the programme as more than a count of votes - a referendum on the bloodliest day in the nation's history, and beyond that a question of what kind of Israel citizens want.

Netanyahu's 'super Sparta' vision

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put a name to one vision on the ballot. He has embraced the concept of a 'super Sparta state', describing Israel as a country living in a permanent state of war.

Alongside that framing, Netanyahu has promised to keep the United States on Israel's side, a 'splendid isolation' backed by American support.

The programme behind the report points to the cost of that path: traditional allies have lost sympathy, it says, over two things:

• •the unending punishment inflicted on Gaza
• •the terror attacks by Jewish settlers in the West Bank

Who is turning out

The composition of the electorate shapes what verdict the ballot can deliver, and several constituencies stand out:

• •Ultra-Orthodox voters are described as the country's fastest-growing constituency, and their weight is counted among the factors behind the high turnout.
• •About one in five Israeli citizens are Palestinian, a group whose turnout is usually lower.
• •Voters have flown in from abroad specifically to cast their ballots.

The day ended with Israelis having voted in their largest numbers in decades, with the programme framing the result as an answer to what kind of Israel citizens want - under the 'super Sparta state' Netanyahu has embraced or otherwise.