Israel's election: Five key things to know

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIn Israel, about seven point three million eligible voters choose a new Knesset this week, in the country's sixth national election since twenty nineteen.

2. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSix elections since twenty nineteen. That's a lot of voting.

3. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorAnd this is the first in thirty-eight years to arrive at the natural end of a full Knesset term, according to Al Jazeera.

4. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorPolls show a very close contest between Netanyahu's Likud and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar, with neither camp near sixty-one seats in most of them.

5. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo who's the one voters actually pick for prime minister?

6. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNobody. Voters pick a party list, and a party needs three point two five percent of the vote to win any seat at all.

7. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNo party has ever won a majority alone, so every Israeli government has been a coalition.

8. 

   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentEvery single one. That's a group project with a thirty-eight year history of nobody doing the slides.

9. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorBenny Gantz dropped out on October nineteenth, just days before the vote.

10. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMost polling stations open at seven in the morning and close at ten at night, and anyone still in line at closing is entitled to vote.

11. 

    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentDropping out days before is a brave way to learn the deadline.

12. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorOfficial results are due November fourth. As I said earlier this morning, I assume forming a government could take a while, so expect a long wait.

13. 

    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThirty-eight years to reach the end of a term, and the first thing they do is start a group chat.