Gal Gadot has publicly backed Israel’s opposition as the country heads to the polls in its most consequential election in decades.
The Wonder Woman star, 39, posted an Instagram Story from her polling site Tuesday morning showing herself casting a ballot and urging her fellow citizens to do the same. Nearly 45 percent of voters had already done so by 2 p.m. Local time, the Central Elections Committee reported, marking the highest turnout recorded at that hour since 1973.
“That’s it, I’m exercising my right to vote, and I ask all of you to go out and exercise your most basic, most important, the most democratic right, and to vote for who you believe in,” Gadot said in the video.
“I’m voting for change, and I hope that today, Tuesday… that it will only be good for us all,” she added, blowing a kiss at the camera.
The actor did not name which candidate she supported. However, her call for “change” aligns with the so-called “change bloc” led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, which is running to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing alliance. Nearly all major pre-election polls put Eisenkot’s Together coalition ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud and allied parties, though neither side is guaranteed to secure the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government.
Gadot’s election-day appearance came just hours after she received an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University on Monday night, where she also urged the crowd to vote.
The surge in participation has put roughly 3.3 million of Israel’s 7.3 million eligible voters into the ballot boxes so far. Military turnout is also outpacing the 2022 election, with the Israel Defense Forces reporting at least 48 percent of registered service members had voted by 1 p.m. Local time.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is seeking to extend his record despite facing a corruption trial and widespread protests against his judicial overhaul plans. Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, has positioned himself as a unifying alternative in a race that has deeply divided the country.
This marks the Jewish state’s sixth election in seven years, a period of extraordinary political instability even by Israeli standards. The repeated votes reflect the inability of any party or coalition to maintain a durable governing majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
The election carries particular weight given the ongoing war in Gaza and tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon, with security concerns dominating much of the campaign discourse. Voters are weighing whether to return Netanyahu to power or hand the reins to a new leadership team promising a different approach.
Gadot, who served in the IDF before her Hollywood career and has frequently spoken about her Israeli identity, has rarely made such direct political endorsements. Her intervention adds a high-profile voice to a contest that has already drawn intense international attention.
The final results may not be clear for days as coalition negotiations begin, with smaller parties potentially holding decisive leverage in determining who ultimately governs.