Israelis Abroad Fly Home From San Francisco to Vote in Closely Watched Election

Ayelet Frank was among the first to check in on Sunday, Oct. 25, for a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. A Redwood City, California, resident who left Israel in 1984, she was returning for a single purpose: to vote in the Oct. 27 election. It is the first time in more than 40 years abroad that she has made the trip to cast a ballot.

"This election is unique. It's very different than any other," Frank told J., the Jewish news outlet of Northern California. She described the vote as a choice between the destruction of the country and building it up in a positive way. Born on Kibbutz Ein Harod, she planned to stay only two days before flying back to California, saying the journey was worth it because "it's that important."

Frank was one of 271 passengers on El Al flight 48, which landed less than 24 hours before polls opened. It was the first nonstop flight from San Francisco to Israel since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023. Many on board belonged to what the organizing group Fly & Vote estimates is a wave of 67,000 Israelis abroad returning home to vote. The Israel Democracy Institute has said that in a tight race, many voters could swing nearly two Knesset seats.

Israel does not allow absentee voting, except for diplomats and other state employees posted abroad, so expatriates must vote in person. Fly & Vote, a project of the U.S.-based America Israel Democracy Coalition, cautioned that its figure comes from a voluntary August survey and its own registration data rather than a count of arrivals. No comparable data exists for earlier elections.

The Likud-led government tried to impede the group's efforts through legal action, which Israel's Supreme Court blocked in October. The government also reportedly considered closing or slowing traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport before the election. Analysts say Netanyahu and his allies believe most people responding to the initiative will vote against the government. That appeared to hold true on the San Francisco flight, where every person interviewed spoke of a need for change. The Silicon Valley expat group UnXeptable, which emerged to protest Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, handed out light blue shirts reading "Flight for Change" in Hebrew.

Several passengers were making their first trip home to vote. Udi Pardo of Capitola, who left Israel in 1983, called the moment a national emergency and said he was undecided between Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar and Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad, both center-right parties opposed to the government. Roni Bar-Niv of Sunnyvale, who left Givatayim 26 years ago, said her view changed after Oct. 7, noting that she pays taxes, owns an apartment and has a daughter in Israel. Berkeley resident Rivka Amado said it is every Israeli's duty to vote, whether living in Israel or abroad.

Not all travelers were certain expats should have a say. Eyal, a Mountain View tech designer who withheld his surname because of his past military work, said he generally agrees with those who believe expats should not weigh in on matters that no longer affect them personally. But in this case, he said, many Israelis, including his parents, want expats to vote. Another traveler, Shlomi of Sunnyvale, warned that without a change in government, Israel's brain drain would accelerate.

The emigration trend has drawn attention. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reported that about 82,800 Israelis left in 2024, up from 55,000 in 2023, and the Times of Israel reported more than 69,000 departures in 2025. Opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv has warned of a "tsunami of emigration."

Thirty-seven parties are on the ballot, though only about a dozen are expected to clear the 3.25% threshold for Knesset seats. Final polls show Yashar winning 22 to 23 seats and Likud 19 to 21. Neither is projected to win a majority, so intense coalition negotiations are expected. Hadar Aviram, who teaches law in San Francisco, said the crowded boarding area showed how far people will go: "When you love something very, very, very much, you are willing to go to great lengths to save it."