Israel election live: polls open in most consequential vote in country’s history

Most polling shows prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition will lose its majority, with Gadi Eisenkot the leading opposition contender

• What you need to know about Israel’s election

In Jerusalem

Israel is holding its first election since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, the deadliest day in the country’s history, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians.