Jerusalem, Oct. 27 -- Israeli voters cast their ballots at a historic pace, with national turnout reaching 44.9 per cent as of 2 PM (local time), according to figures released by the Central Elections Committee.

The mid-afternoon figure marks a notable surge from the 38.9 per cent recorded at the same hour during the 2022 general election, Times of Israel reported. The previous PM record was set during the 1988 election, coming in 2.7 percentage points lower than the current turnout.

The participation level represents the highest turnout recorded at this hour since the Central Elections Committee first began tracking hourly participation metrics in 1973.

Highlighting the historic magnitude of voter participation across the country, Dea...