Fewer Israelis Fly Out and More Fly Home as Knesset Election Nears

Many Israelis are putting off trips abroad, and others are flying home, as the country prepares for Tuesday's Knesset election on October 27. Channel 13 reported on Sunday that Ben-Gurion Airport figures reveal a marked change in passenger traffic.

The station compared airport activity between October 17 and 27 in 2022, 2025 and 2026. Departures have fallen noticeably, which suggests that a good number of Israelis see the vote as important enough to rearrange their vacation and business plans.

In 2026, about 245,000 passengers left Israel during the period examined. The figure was roughly 270,000 in 2025, after the war ended, and 323,000 in 2022, the last time Israel held a general election. The drop stands out because travelers now have more aircraft and flights available than in earlier years.

Arrivals tell a different story. No large-scale airlift of special flights was organized to bring voters back, and incoming travelers have mostly used existing aviation capacity. Even so, the number of people entering the country has far exceeded the number leaving. Channel 13 put the gap at more than 90,000 in 2026, against about 77,000 in the same stretch of 2025.

The station estimated that 90,000 people would equal roughly two Knesset seats if all were eligible voters who cast valid ballots. The passenger data cannot show how many returned specifically to vote, however, and the totals include children and foreign nationals who cannot take part in Israeli elections.

The numbers could still matter. Israel's electoral threshold is 3.25% of valid votes, so modest shifts in turnout might decide whether parties close to that line win seats in the next Knesset. The 120 seats are divided proportionally among parties that clear the threshold, and the effect of any returning voters will depend on how their ballots are split.

The trend fits a recent Fly&Vote survey, which estimated that about 67,000 Israelis living abroad planned to travel to Israel to vote. That estimate was based on registration data and a voluntary survey, not on confirmed arrivals. Most Israeli citizens abroad cannot vote remotely, unlike in many other countries, and must return to cast their ballots. The Fly&Vote initiative, run by the AID Coalition, has tried to assist them, though its activities were restricted after legal proceedings initiated by Likud.

Among those who made the journey is Alon Ben-Gurion, grandson of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. According to Channel 13, he arrived from the United States with his family and traveled to Tiberias to vote.

Interest in flying home to vote was already visible in August, when organizers arranged dedicated flights from New York and Lisbon to meet demand among Israelis overseas.