The owners of the malls were shocked: Israelis are flocking to the stores – how much have we wasted so far?

Taking advantage of the Shabbat of Election Day for local authorities to shop: between the hours of 8:00 and 17:00 this morning, Israelis spent more than NIS 928 million on credit, an increase of 12.9% compared to the day of the Knesset elections in November 2022, when an expenditure of NIS 822.89 million was recorded. This is according to data from the Sheba company, which manages and develops a national credit card payment system.

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In the previous municipal elections held on October 30, 2018, the scope of expenses during these hours was only NIS 524 million. The busiest minute so far was 12:53 with purchases amounting to NIS 2.66 million. Mashba reported that the volume of purchases today is higher by more than 6% compared to the corresponding hours last Friday.

According to Dotan Shalom, CEO of Shaar HaNorth Mall, "By 12:00 noon there was a significant increase in the number of visitors, with an increase of over 50% compared to a normal day. The inclement weather also contributes to the decision of many families to spend Election Day at the mall and make purchases."

TLV mall management said: "About 3 hours from the opening of the mall and we see a significant increase in the number of visitors compared to a normal weekday. From past experience during the last prime ministerial elections, the concentration of traffic is between 12:00 and 19:00. As of 1:00 p.m., about 10,000 visitors visited the mall. We believe that we will see a significant increase in the number of visitors compared to the last prime ministerial election day."