 It was the third and last Prime Ministerial election (separate elections were scrapped before the next Knesset elections in 2003), and the only one which was not held alongside simultaneous Knesset elections.Voter turnout was 62.3%, the lowest turnout for any national election held in Israel.The low turnout was at least partially due to many Israeli Arabs boycotting the poll in protest at the October 2000 events in which 12 Israeli Arabs were killed by the police.