Israelis in New Zealand to kick off voting Wednesday night

Voting for the 19th Knesset by Israeli envoys based abroad was scheduled to begin in Wellington, New Zealand, at 11 p.m. local time Wednesday evening.

Some 4,000 Israeli representatives at 92 Israeli missions around the world, including diplomatic envoys and their children, security personnel, Jewish Agency and Zionist Federation employees, international cooperation specialists, and others, have the right to cast their ballot in this election.

At the Israeli Consulate in New York City, some 600 individuals were registered to vote, making it by the far the mission with the largest number of eligible voters.

In contrast, only one polling station will be open for Israelis based in Arab countries — in Amman, Jordan. In Cairo, there won’t be a polling station for Israeli voters since most of the country’s personnel left Egypt after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency recently informed hundreds of its employees who receive salaries from the Jewish Federations and not the State of Israel that in order to vote they would have to fly to Israel on their own dime, Maariv added.