Israelis abroad fly home to vote, posing threat to Netanyahu

Galit Altstein, Bloomberg News on Oct 21, 2026

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In 15 years abroad, Lital Lee Doron has returned to Israel to vote only once. This week, she’s flying home in the hope of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The October 2023 Hamas attack and the attempts by Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judiciary have both served as a wake-up call, according to the 35-year-old tech sales professional, who plans to vote for the opposition.

“People think election results only affect those living in Israel, but they impact Israelis abroad just as much,” Doron said by phone from Barcelona Airport, on her way to Tel Aviv. “We went from an admired nation to an ostracized state.”

Doron is among thousands of Israelis expected to return for the Oct. 27 election, widely considered the country’s most consequential in decades. Many of the returnees are, like her, planning to support the opposition — led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. That includes professionals who left amid disillusionment with government policies and others who have experienced hostility toward Israel in other countries.

Only a fraction of the roughly 700,000 to 1 million Israelis living abroad will return home to vote. But with recent polls suggesting neither Netanyahu or Eisenkot has enough support to secure a majority, marginal swings could have repercussions. An Oct. 18 poll by state broadcaster Kan forecast 52 seats for Eisenkot’s bloc and 51 for Netanyahu, well short of the 61 needed to form a government.

According to trading on Polymarket, Eisenkot has a roughly 50% chance of becoming Israel’s next prime minister, while the odds of Netanyahu leading the next government stand at 29%.

This year’s election is the first since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel three years ago, a seismic event that traumatized the country and triggered a region-wide war. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu’s policies for allowing the raid, in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 more hostage. Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza devastated the Palestinian territory and killed at least 74,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Netanyahu’s nationalist and religious coalition has championed Jewish settlers on the West Bank, drawing an international backlash. That situation was exacerbated by an attack on an American photojournalist and foreign diplomats by settlers over the weekend, which lead to 10 arrests.

The government has also allied with ultra-Orthodox parties, supporting that group’s exemption from military service — a source of growing resentment in Israeli society after three years of war.

“Until recently, a quiet Israeli middle class got a bit too comfortable — eating out and taking cheap flights — while abandoning politics,” said Gal Bar Dea, a former bank chief who recently moved to Switzerland. “We focused on tech and business only to check back and realize that extremists from both sides had taken over. Oct. 7 and the judicial overhaul attempts are products of our own inattention.”

Israel is unusual among Western democracies in barring citizens from voting overseas, though makes an exception for roughly 4,000 government officials. Participation in that group reached 87%, up from 70% in the 2022 election, as voting at 100 diplomatic missions ended on Friday.

Academics are also capitalizing on the returning diaspora. Mind-IL, led by researchers at six Israeli institutions, has organized dozens of conferences for October 25-26, covering fields from AI and health to economics and climate.

“The proximity to the election is no coincidence as many of them were already travelling to Israel on these dates and we leveraged the opportunity,” said Itai Ater, an economics professor at Tel Aviv University and one of the organizers. “For some, it might have better justified a short visit during which they can also take part in the vote.”

The U.S.-based nonpartisan AID Coalition recently launched Fly&Vote, a program offering Israeli expatriates documentation guidance and guaranteed seats on flights to Tel Aviv — helpful given ongoing war-related service disruptions.

Netanyahu’s Likud party petitioned the Central Elections Committee about the move, saying it amounted to illegal financial inducements. Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg brokered a settlement: Likud withdrew its petition, and organizers agreed not to add group flights and stick strictly to airline fares.

Grassroots group Back2vote enlists friends and relatives to persuade expatriates to travel home. More than 7,800 have registered to help, it said.

Its campaign features a pianist touring Germany, travelers across Asia and Australia, and professionals in New York, London and Milan, all planning to “pop over” to vote.

Among them is Noga Anoulik, who’s travelling after completing her mandatory military service.

“When my home country is at such a critical turning point there’s no doubt I’ll be there. On Oct. 27 I’ll report to the polling station and exercise my freedom to choose. India will wait for me, Israel won’t.”