Adam Pines has spent $2,900 (£2,100) on a flight he hopes will change the course of Israel’s future.

The Israeli expat, who lives in Los Angeles, has returned to Tel Aviv to vote in Knesset elections on Tuesday. He has travelled 7,500 miles with the aim of ousting Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Mr Pines, 47, has not flown back to vote before, but this time feels compelled to make the journey. He told The Telegraph: “I feel that Israel has lost its moral compass.”

Israel does not allow the majority of its citizens living abroad to vote by post, so expatriates need to cross oceans to cast their ballots.

Mr Pines is one of at least 53,000 Israelis living around the world who are travelling to their home country to vote at a defining moment of their country’s history.

The Telegraph spoke to a number of Israelis living overseas who are planning to make the journey, united by their desire to oust Mr Netanyahu.

Their objections strike at some of the most combustible fault lines in Israeli society – from the mounting death toll in Gaza and violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, to the bitter dispute over military conscription.

Israeli expats are also concerned with the issue of conscription, and exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, which is causing deep division within Israel.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to the territory’s health ministry. In the occupied West Bank, at least 170 attacks have been reported since Sept 27. Mr Netanyahu has criticised the violence, but done little to end it.

Last week, Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photojournalist, was beaten by settlers, nearly losing a finger. The following day, a delegation of European diplomats was attacked.

The incidents have damaged Israel’s reputation, and led to a rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli hostility worldwide. Britain’s Community Security Trust recorded 1,926 incidents in the first half of this year, a 21 per cent rise on the same period in 2025.

The figures follow a series of deadly attacks on Jewish communities, including two Jewish men killed in the attack on a Manchester synagogue in October and 15 people killed in a shooting at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in December.

Read More: Tens of thousands fly into Israel to vote out Netanyahu