New Delhi [India], October 15 : Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar on Thursday cast his vote in the national capital at the Israeli Embassy as Israeli diplomatic missions across the world opened polling stations ahead of Israel's October 27 elections, with diplomatic staff and their families casting their ballots early to ensure they reach the country in time for counting.
The Israeli Embassy in India shared the development on X, highlighting Azar's participation in the early voting process and describing it as voting for Israel in the world's largest democracy.
"Voting for Israel in the world’s largest democracy! Ambassador Reuven Azar casts his vote in New Delhi ahead of Israel’s October 27 elections. Fun fact: Israelis serving at embassies around the world vote early so their ballots make it home in time!" the Israeli Embassy in India said in a post on X.
According to The Times of Israel, the first ballots of Israel's 2026 election were cast overnight as voting opened at Israeli diplomatic missions around the world ahead of the October 27 election.
The voting period for eligible personnel serving at diplomatic missions abroad and their families will last around 30 hours, with polling stations opening during local daytime hours at respective locations.
In total, 101 polling stations are scheduled to operate across 99 diplomatic missions, allowing around 4,800 eligible people to cast their votes, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Voting abroad is not available to most Israeli citizens and is restricted to envoys, diplomatic staff and their families.
The Israeli Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, was the first to open its polling station, with voting beginning at 9 am local time, equivalent to 11 pm the previous night in Israel, as per The Times of Israel.
Staff at the newly opened Israeli Embassy in Fiji followed, with its polling station opening an hour later.
The final diplomatic missions scheduled to close their polling stations are the Israeli consulates in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where voting will end at 8 pm local time, corresponding to 6 am on Friday in Israel.
Following the completion of voting, the ballot slips will be flown to Israel and sent to the Knesset for counting.
Ambassador Azar's participation in New Delhi marks part of the early voting process for Israeli diplomatic personnel stationed overseas, allowing their ballots to be transported back to Israel ahead of the October 27 election.