Haredi turnout in Likud primary said high; faces of female candidates covered at polling station

Amid reports of low overall turnout in the Likud primary today, Channel 12 reports that thousands of the party’s ultra-Orthodox members are showing up to the polls in a bid to influence the composition of the party’s slate of candidates.

The network reports that 7,000 to 10,000 Haredi members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party could cast ballots. The party has about 140,000 total members, but just 19% had voted as of the mid-afternoon, according to a Channel 13 report.

Channel 12 reports that many of the Haredi Likud members may end up voting for another party — either Haredi factions or the far-right Otzma Yehudit — in the October 27 general election. But they hope to use their primary votes to reward Likud lawmakers seen as friendly to their agenda, such as MK Boaz Bismuth, who advanced a bill that would have exempted yeshiva students from military service.

Ynet reports that some Haredi voters go to the ballot box with lists of approved candidates from their religious leadership.

In the Haredi city of Elad, locals cover photos of female candidates with stickers, leading to a spat with party activists, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

מהומה בקלפי באלעד: תושבים חרדים כיסו תמונות של נשים מועמדות לפריימריז, והתעמתו בצעקות עם הפעילים. פעילות ליכוד נדרשו לצאת מהמקום בגלל "צניעות" pic.twitter.com/OUC0qEtYFV

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) August 17, 2026