Yamina party chairwoman Ayelet Shaked voted at a polling station near her home in north Tel Aviv Tuesday morning, shortly after voting began in Israel’s 22nd Knesset election.
The 43-year-old former Justice Minister was joined by her husband, Ofir, and the couple’s two children.
En route to the polling station, Shaked warned that the Yamina party was in danger of losing the bulk of its support to the Likud, and called on supporters to return home to the party.
“We are concerned,” Shaked told reporters. “The Likud’s campaign harmed us in a very serious way. But I believe that the public remembers from [the previous election] just five months ago that what counts isn’t which party is largest, but the size of the bloc. So I hope that everyone who believes in our path will vote Yamina.”
“We waged an effective campaign explaining that what matters is the size of the bloc and the number of [MKs] who will nominate [Netanyahu], not the size of the party,” said Shaked, referring to her call on right-wing voters to back Yamina over the Likud. “I call on all of ours supporters to come out and vote.”
Shaked, the sole chairwoman of a major party in the election, called on female voters to back her party.
“I call on the wonderful women of Israel to empower female leadership.”