Israel Kreis, 94, collapsed and died Tuesday at the entrance to his apartment building in Ramat Gan, shortly after he went to vote in the Knesset election with his daughter.
Volunteers from ZAKA (Orthodox Jewish emergency response group) who were called to the scene handled the deceased's body and accompanied the family members. ZAKA volunteers Arye Ben Menachem and Hezi Barzani said, "This is a 94-year-old man who went out with his daughter to vote at the polling station, and on his way back home, he collapsed and died."
The deceased's daughter, who was at the scene, thanked the volunteers and described her father's final moments. She said, "Dad came home after exercising his democratic right to vote at the polling station, and then, unfortunately, he collapsed and passed away. I'm proud of him. He's an example for all of us."
The deceased's body was transferred via a ZAKA ambulance to the cemetery ahead of his funeral.
The Central Elections Committee said the national turnout rate for the 26th Knesset election stood at 16.68% of eligible voters as of 10 a.m. At the same hour in the 25th Knesset election in 2022, the rate stood at 15.9%. This is the highest turnout rate recorded at this hour since 1981.
Attorney Dan Livne, the committee's acting director general, presented the figures at a press conference at the committee's control center in the Knesset. Updates on the national turnout rate will be published every two hours until 11 p.m.
In the IDF, the turnout rate stood at 30% of all soldiers as of 10 a.m., compared to 25.7% at the same hour in the 25th Knesset election. By contrast, voting in some peripheral cities has been slower than in previous elections.
In Afula, the turnout rate stood at about 11.8% as of 10:18 a.m. In the previous election, the city's final turnout rate reached about 63%, and in the 2021 election, in which Netanyahu lost power, it reached 59%. In Beit She'an, the rate stood at about 11.5% as of 9:42 a.m.
