Israel votes in decisive election: What happens after polls close?

Joining me in the studio now is our International Affairs Editor Angela Difley. We were speaking there, Clovis and I, about the very unique nature of the Israeli political system and certainly it's not going to be immediate as to who indeed is going to be able to form a government without coalition talks. Yes, 120 seats in the Knesset, you need 61, as you say, it never happens and so it will all be about horse-trading. Clovis was talking there about the Arab-Israeli vote, about 20% of Israelis are Arab Israelis. They vote. They are expected to get around 13 to 14 seats. But most parties have pledged not to work with them because it is so politically unpopular. Whether when push comes to shove and they are in need of two votes, maybe to get them over the line, they will break that promise. We will see. But for the moment, their position of kingmakers might not be the position that it should be arithmetically, if you like. so this uh change now block uh headed by Gadi Eisenkot as you said former leader of the IDF and whose son was killed in the early days of the Gaza war has two big right-wing center-right parties and the main left-wing party they do not have much in common except that they have told voters vote for our block we pledge to make sure Netanyahu does not get back in there are two groups of voters that will be interesting to watch. One is reservists and soldiers whose votes will not be counted until Wednesday. They tend to lean right. So that might make a big difference to the votes when they are counted on Wednesday. The other, of course, we were talking yesterday about this huge number of Israelis, sometimes dual national Israelis, coming from different places around the world to vote in Israel because you cannot use a postal or an online vote. That depends where they've come from. You know, California voters are more likely to lean to the left. Those from, for example, Miami are much more likely to vote for Netanyahu. So when they are counted, that will be very interesting to see what it delivers as well when the breakdown finally happens. In the meantime, somebody will be asked by the president to try to form a coalition. If that doesn't work, they'll be asked to try again. Then the other key leader might be asked to try to form a coalition. If that doesn't work, he might ask them to try for a government of national unity. And the last resort would be elections all over again, which is something most Israelis do not want. I should just point out to the viewer that there's already been record turnout, I think somewhere around 31 percent at midday, which is the highest level since 1977. I think also what would be interesting for people outside the country is that the Palestinian conflict doesn't really rate the same way as other issues in this election campaign. Is that the case? No, it has not been a campaign issue. The conduct of the war in Gaza, settler violence on the West Bank and especially not the idea of a two-state solution. They have not been issues on the campaign trail at all. And for the moment, the idea of a two-state solution, you know, Israelis were already lukewarm about it before October the 7th. The level of mistrust now between Palestinians and Israelis is such on both sides that that solution seems much further away. So that was not an issue. National security was the main issue. And who can guarantee Israel's security? Those who oppose Netanyahu say, this happened on your watch. We can't trust you. Those who favor Netanyahu point to the fact that since then there have been strategic, if you like, wins against Hamas, against Hezbollah, in some cases against Iran, that he is the only one who takes it seriously. That has been the main issue. The second big issue, very divisive on the right, is this issue of conscription, because when the state of Israel was created in 1948, a tiny number of very religious, ultra-religious Jews were exempt from national service, military service, and allowed to spend their days praying and especially studying religious works. That has now grown to a very significant minority. In 2050, it will be almost a third of Israelis. they are also subsidized by the state so not only do israelis uh feel more annoyed that they're not playing their part in the military they're also taking money there is a cost of living crisis that is a big big issue as has been corruption thank you angela