Gal Gadot Casts Her Ballot in Israel's Knesset Election and Urges Citizens to Vote

Israeli actress Gal Gadot voted in the country's Knesset election on Tuesday morning and shared the moment with her followers on Instagram. She posted a video to her story showing her at a polling station, joining an estimated 70,000 or more Israelis living abroad who returned home to cast ballots.

In the clip, filmed at what appeared to be an ordinary Israeli polling station, Gadot spoke in Hebrew as she picked up an envelope and stepped into the voting booth. She said she was exercising her right to vote and asked everyone to do the same, calling it the most basic and most important democratic right, and urging people to vote for whoever they believe in.

She also referred to a Hebrew expression, pa'amim ki tov. It draws on the biblical account of creation, in which the word "good" appears twice on the third day. Because Tuesday is the third day of the week in Israel, the phrase has come to mean a double blessing. Gadot said she hoped it would be so, and that with God's help it would be only good for everyone. She ended the video by blowing a kiss to the camera, and her next story showed a photo of her placing the envelope in the ballot box.

Gadot is also set to appear on the comedy show Eretz Nehederet, known in English as Wonderful Country, on Tuesday night after the polls close.

The actress lives most of the year in Los Angeles with her husband, Jaron Varsano, and their four daughters. She is originally from Rosh HaAyin.

Her trip home began earlier in the week. On Monday she received an honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan University at a gala marking the institution's 70th anniversary. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was also given an honorary doctorate at the event.

According to JNS, Gadot said in her acceptance remarks that people in Israel and in Jewish communities worldwide have experienced loss, fear and uncertainty. She said antisemitism has always been present and is unfortunately not going away. Speaking as an Israeli and a Jewish woman working internationally, she said she feels a distance between the home she knows and the way Israelis are sometimes portrayed from the outside. "No matter how far I travel, Israel's always my home. These are my people, my family," she said.

She also addressed the election itself, describing it as potentially "the most momentous election this country has seen in years, or even ever." She said it was a moment for everyone to show up and use the most powerful civic right they have, voting according to their beliefs and with a sense of responsibility toward the women and men who call the country home.

On screen, Gadot can currently be seen in the thriller The Runner on Prime Video. She will also appear in the next installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast Forever.