Increasing participation in the Israeli elections Israel's Channel 12 reported that the participation rate in the Knesset elections reached 16.68 percent at 10:00 am and about 1.2 million people voted. According to this report, this is the highest participation rate recorded at this time since 1981. In Israeli elections, the competition is not only about the number of mandates; The formation of the government depends on the ability of the parties to obtain the support of a majority of 61 seats out of the total 120 seats of the Knesset.