JERUSALEM - As of midday on October 25, approximately 90,000 Israelis living abroad were in Israel, about 74,000 more than on a typical day in October, according to estimates by Bekesher, a virtual mobile operator that provides eSIM services to Israelis abroad who want to retain their Israeli phone numbers, CTech reported. The company attributes the increase to Israelis arriving ahead of Tuesday's election, although its presence data does not establish why they are visiting.

Source: CTech / Calcalist, Oct 25

~90,000Israelis living abroad estimated in Israel by midday Sunday - about 74,000 above a typical October day (Bekesher, via CTech)
~111,000Bekesher's forecast for election day, about 94,000 above the usual level (CTech)
810,000Israelis eligible to vote living abroad as of October 2026 (Central Bureau of Statistics, via CTech)

Earlier on Sunday, Bekesher had estimated about 80,000 Israelis living abroad were in the country. In a forecast it describes as conservative, it expects the figure to reach approximately 111,000 by election day. The company believes many visitors are coming specifically to vote, though the data alone cannot confirm their intentions. Its estimates are based on measurements of subscribers' actual presence in Israel, extrapolated from its own customer data, rather than a direct count of all arrivals, CTech reported. About 18% of its subscribers were in Israel by Sunday afternoon, six times the roughly 3% recorded on a typical day in October last year.

Source: CTech / Calcalist, Oct 25

Why they must fly: no absentee ballot

Israelis living abroad generally cannot vote by mail or at embassies, except for diplomats and certain official emissaries, so ordinary citizens must be physically present in Israel to cast a ballot. The Canadian Jewish News (CJN) reported that an estimated 65,000 Israelis living abroad plan to fly back to vote on October 27 in the first election since October 7, 2023, and that among them are many Israelis living in Canada. A separate Fly&Vote survey estimate cited in other reporting put returning voters at about 67,000, up from 53,000 projected earlier in October.

Source: The CJN, via EuropeSays Canada, Oct 26

The CJN spoke to voters in Canada travelling for the vote on both sides. Marty and Debbie Strub from Hamilton said they were likely voting for Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party, the main rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing among other reasons his refusal to hold a national inquiry into October 7. Eviatar Tron, who moved to Toronto in the summer of 2024, said he was supporting The Democrats. Toronto realtor Avi Miller, by contrast, said he was voting Likud for Netanyahu, the CJN reported. The governing Likud coalition had accused opposition organisers in North America of illegally subsidising flights for returning voters, the CJN noted - an allegation around the Fly&Vote effort, which organisers describe as non-partisan.

Source: The CJN, via EuropeSays Canada

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 810,000 Israelis eligible to vote were living abroad as of October 2026, and since 2023 about 260,000 Israelis of all ages have left the country, approximately 75% of them adults, CTech reported. Bekesher said Israelis who left more recently were twice as likely to be motivated to return and vote as those who moved abroad longer ago, which it attributed to a stronger sense of commitment - though it noted presence data alone cannot establish voters' motivations. No source established how returning voters will vote or whether they will change the result in a race where final polls projected neither bloc reaching the 61 seats needed for a majority.

Source: CTech / Calcalist, Oct 25