Israel Election Live Updates: Early Turnout Appears Strong as Netanyahu Faces Challenge Led by Eisenkot

NEW: Israel heads for its fastest election turnout in half a century as voters pass wartime judgment on Netanyahu, with centrist challenger Gadi Eisenkot leading the charge against him.

Israeli turnout is running at its fastest pace in fifty years.

Polling stations opened this morning and voters showed up like they'd been waiting at the door. When people queue before breakfast to vote, they're not there to say thank you. This is Benjamin Netanyahu's first time on a ballot since October 7, and the man trying to end his run is Gadi Eisenkot, you can see him here. Former army chief of staff, centrist, and a father who lost his own son fighting in Gaza. That biography is very hard to attack in a wartime election.

Netanyahu has survived more political obituaries than anyone alive, and he's counting on his base doing what it always does. But high turnout usually means the other side got off the couch.

By tonight we'll know if the longest serving prime minister in Israel's history just ran out of road.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.