Israel elections: Turnout is highest on record as Israelis vote in pivotal election

Turnout so far, we're only halfway through the day really, is at record levels. Israelis voting in what many view as one of the most pivotal elections in the country's history. Based on some of the campaigning, not least by the current incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu, many feel the same about that, about the sort of existential nature of these elections. I'm joined by David Mensah, spokesperson for the Israeli government in the office of the prime minister, to talk through what some of those issues might be. Good afternoon to you, David. Thank you for joining us today. Hello. Good to be with you, Sheila. What's at stake? What's at stake is the future of our country. You know, we live in a very dangerous neighbourhood. Security is always our number one concern, living in this violent jihadi neighbourhood. And so keeping the people of Israel safe, the Prime Minister's laid out his plan. It's that we've got 90% of the way there when it comes to Iran and their threat to destroy this country with nuclear weapons. And he says he wants to finish the job. But I think there is consensus on that issue. So the prime minister has laid out his record and also the threat of Iran. But I think that there is agreement across most of the main parties here in Israel that dealing with that security threat from Iran and their proxies is the number one issue. And yet the prime minister has been on television, hasn't he, suggesting that to vote for anyone other than him would weaken that position. Why so, if everybody agrees that Iran is the number one enemy? Sheila, I think you probably covered your fair share of elections. That's what party leaders do. They don't do anything else. This is a festival of elections here in Israel. Everyone has to vote. In fact, it's a day off for every Israeli. Our polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and they close at 10 p.m tonight we've had as your report says unprecedented numbers of people turning up maybe the highest in 50 years because the people of this country uh there are 10 million people living here about seven and a half thousand seven and a half uh seven and a half million are eligible eligible to vote um and he is doing his job as a party leader telling the people to come out and vote but that same message is coming out from across the party uh leaders across all different parties and ultimately it'll be the Israeli people that make the decision today what would he say to those and you'll be familiar with these claims um all these suggestions that he is not just fighting to stay in office he's actively fighting to stay out of prison or at the very least out of court well the prime minister has dealt with these issues in detail across many many years it's ongoing isn't it the court it is indeed ongoing it's collapsing around our ears constantly every time there is another hearing. He's made his case clear. My responsibility on election day is to be impartial, but the prime minister has made his case very clear. Ultimately, this country is making a decision about who should be in charge of facing the threats of this country, whether it's the prime minister, Netanyahu, or whether any of the opposition leaders and it'll be down to the Israeli people to make that decision and just explain to people who might not be familiar and i'm only partly familiar with the the sort of vicissitudes of the Israeli electoral system today is unlikely to be the day where we see a definitive leader and government formation is it or even tomorrow or even the day after well just like in the uk uh we'll the polls will close tonight about 10 p.m actually our election commission has said that if there are still people queuing to cast their vote then the queues will allow to be emptied out so people everyone will have their vote and then there'll be the exit polls just like in the UK now the objective of anyone wishing to form the next government is to get over that magical line of 61 there are 120 seats in our Knesset so the the leader of the the next prime minister needs to pull together a coalition of more than 61 and that's what the party leaders will be trying to do tonight you could probably argue very accurately that they've already started doing it but ultimately their jobs now are to get as we are 5 p.m here another five hours left of the polls is to get people out to vote right now in this very much a festival democracy but it's quite likely that we'll find out we'll be pretty clear at the exit polls and certainly by tomorrow morning uh who is looking uh best place to uh create that coalition um the president has made clear that he doesn't want uh he doesn't want to for this to have another run on another runoff election uh so we'll see what happens it is neck and neck right now you're right to point that out. So there's very much everything to play for. If Benjamin Netanyahu is in a position to form a coalition without Ben Gvir's party, will he make that choice or will he stick with them? Well, that'll be his choice to make. I can't make that choice for him. I've been honoured to work very closely with him for the last three years. I'll tell you one thing, Sheila. I would never and you're a fool if you ever bet against prime minister netanyahu there are many people that lost a lot of money uh betting against him i wouldn't advise doing it the guy is a political phenomenon uh he knows how to operate in israel's um political system so i i would never bet against uh the prime minister but that said look ultimately the choice is down to israel's seven and a half million uh voters it's their choice that's the you know we are the only democracy in hundreds of miles in any direction uh in this part of the world all of us israelis take this responsibility very very uh carefully you know i've been to vote already you see mums and dads and kids and families and grandparents and uncles and aunts all going to vote together people flying home from all corners of the world people take this uh extremely uh seriously it's one person, one vote. We guard this because, you know, the Palestinians, unfortunately, to their discredit, haven't had an election, I think, in over 20 years. So we're very proud of this democratic process. As I said, it's very much a festival of democracy. There's a festival atmosphere here in Israel. It's almost like a bank holiday. All the schools are closed because mostly the schools are the polling stations. They're all over the place. And this is very much a country that is waiting to see what what the results are going to be can i bring you back to Iran and the Iranian threat nobody doubts its existence well i certainly don't doubt its existence but i'm sure the vast majority of people who've seen the last couple of your colleagues might doubt well i'm not responsible for them i'm only responsible for me um Benjamin Netanyahu and beyond the the initial attacks that that Israel and America carried out on Iran earlier this year. He talked about Israel and America having devastated Iran's nuclear program. And yet he put out an ad, I nearly said an attack ad, but that's a very American term, an ad, a video with an AI video of an atomic bomb being exploded over, I think, Tel Aviv, certainly over Israel. Why did he do that, do you think? Because it flies in the face of the notion that Iran's nuclear program has been devastated by Israel and America which he which he did suggest well he has said in his own words that 90 percent of the threat of Iran uh has been taken out but of course the regime is still standing which is why he's made clear that he's using all the levers of at his disposal to make sure that this regime falls and ultimately that will be the job for the Iranian people but as long as these jihadists are in power uh in Iran while they remain in power while they still have access to uh uranium uh they will maintain that will you know these are jihadis at the end of the day they will maintain that will they don't mind how many people they sacrifice their own people they sacrifice they don't want any of these things unfortunately for these jihadis and this is true you know this has support across the political spectrum here in israel uh those jihadis want to destroy this country they're prepared to go to their death to destroy this country so the prime minister's simply making clear in the way that it has agreement across uh the political spectrum here that iran remains a threat and the job must be finished which is why uh president trump has said that he wants prime minister netanyahu by his side in order to finish the job but don't forget this is an election period and uh you know All election, all political leaders will do anything they can to get their people out to come and vote. And that's how the prime minister is one of the ways which the prime minister has chosen to do. Is it true or is it not true that Benjamin Netanyahu sought to have fresh strikes on Iran in the week or weeks leading up to the election? Is that true or false? It's untrue. Right. There was no there was no intention to do that, to derail the election in Israel. You asked me a question whether the prime minister wanted an attack during this election campaign. I asked him myself that very question just last night, and he said it was untrue. Look, this country faces an existential threat at all times, at all times. Well, as long as this regime in Iran, which has sought to destroy this country, you know, it's not just this country. They're also after you guys in the UK as well. But sometimes you guys forget that. And we're only on the front line of dealing with this threat. you know once they finish with us they come for you um so you know this country faces that existential threat that the idea that um well the prime minister i asked him last night i asked one of his closest advisors as well uh last night and both of them told me that that was untrue if benjamin netanyahu wins where does that leave israel's reputation internationally and will he care well of course we care about our reputation but it comes down to Of course he cares about. I mean, Prime Minister Netanyahu is a communicator extraordinaire. I don't think there's anyone on this earth that comes close to his communications ability. So, of course, he cares about the reputation of this country. But this is bigger than our reputation. This is about our safety. This is about whether we can have any sort of sense of a normal life here in this ancient ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. So, yes, of course, we care about our reputation. But, Sheila, as I've said to you before, we'd rather be alive. We'd rather not sit in bomb shelters. We'd rather not have, you know, masked gunmen with green headbands burst into our bedrooms shooting our families. So we care less about our reputation. We care more about staying alive and keeping our people safe. And that, again, is true across the political spectrum. If that's the case, and I don't doubt it's the case, but if it's the case, why hasn't Benjamin Netanyahu and his government gone for that full scale inquiry into the potential failings of that government and the security forces leading up to October the 7th? Why has he been shy of doing that? Well, the Prime Minister does want an inquiry into the failures of October the 7th, and they were catastrophic failures. There's no one can shy away from that. It was a catastrophic security failure. Will he have his own potential failings investigated as well? Well, he has made extremely clear the issue comes in Israel, which is different to the UK. This is a hyper political society whereby, unfortunately, even the judges have become a political arm in this country. And the prime minister simply wants to replicate what happened after 9-11 in the USA, where there is a cross party commission of inquiry to look into exactly what happened. No one doubts the prime minister's willingness to have a full inquiry. He said that very, very clearly. What he said is he doesn't want a commission of inquiry which is predisposed to placing all the blame at his feet. He wants the truth and the truth should come from a cross party inquiry commission, just like what happened after 9-11, so that we can find out precisely what happened and more importantly, ensure that it never happens again. Okay. And in the time we have, just a couple of quick ones. Donald Trump twice put very effusive support out on Truth Social for Benjamin Netanyahu. Was that helpful? Unhelpful? Because again, Netanyahu himself has been saying as part of his campaigning that American funding is likely to go and you'll be on your own and so be it. I'm the man to get us through it. Is Trump a friend or a foe to Netanyahu here, electorally? well president trump uh is very popular uh in israel um you know the prime minister has said and all the again all party leaders have said that we've never had a friend in the white house like uh president trump president trump has said something remarkable that he wants prime minister netanyahu by his side he said it twice now and israelis will make their decision um accordingly but whatever happens israel is moving much more to independence when it comes to its own self-defense. The prime minister has made clear that he wants Israel to wean itself off from all U.S. aid. We've come of age in that sense. We have a very sophisticated and growing defense industry that unfortunately has become very adept at what it's doing because of the threat that we face. But ultimately, Sheila, this comes down to the Israeli people. Again, we're unique. I don't think this point comes across because you guys are a democracy as well we're unique amongst any of the countries hundreds of miles in any direction we're an island of western democracy in a very dangerous neighborhood and ultimately today the people are making their own decision not any leaders they are they are and then the horse trading then and i don't mean that in a negative sense the horse trading then begins if he loses um is that it is that is that politics over for benjamin netanyahu well uh i don't think i mean this is a man who has dedicated his life to the safety and security of israel uh he doesn't intend to lose but ultimately it's down to the israeli people and in terms of what happens next well let's wait five hours and see what the exit polls say let's maybe discuss again tomorrow maybe lunchtime tomorrow to see when things are a bit more clear in terms of the uh results but this is a man who has devoted his entire life to the safety and security of israel he's lost a brother in the rescue Aden Tevi murdered by a palestinian and german uh terrorist he has uh done something remarkable uh in this country he fought back the iranian menace they thought they had surrounded us they didn't realize they they had woken a lion and together with israel's soldiers under the leadership of the prime minister we beat back this iranian menace but ultimately as i say again it's the it's the israeli people which will make the decision and they're making the decision right now