Israel election: Dramatic turnaround for Netanyahu. Netanyahu's Likud storms to victory.99% of the ballot boxes counted: Results indicate the Likud has won 30 seats, Zionist Union 24
99% of the ballot boxes counted: Results indicate the Likud has won 30 seats, Zionist Union 24 http://t.co/DCmsY75pUK pic.twitter.com/wg7WevT2OQ
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) March 18, 2015
18 Mar 2015
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party has won a surprise victory in Israel's election.
Exit polls had forecast a dead heat but with almost all votes
counted, results give Likud a clear lead over its main rival, the
centre-left Zionist Union.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party has won a surprise victory in Israel's election.
The outcome gives Mr Netanyahu a strong chance of forming a right-wing coalition government.
It puts the incumbent on course to clinch a fourth term and become Israel's longest-serving prime minster.
The latest tally gives Likud 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, with the Zionist Union on 24 seats.
In a speech to jubilant supporters in Tel Aviv after Tuesday's polls closed, Mr Netanyahu described the vote as a "great victory" for Likud, which had trailed the Zionist Union in opinion polls in the run-up to the election.
Mr Netanyahu "plans to immediately begin forming a government in order to complete the task within two to three weeks," a statement from Likud said.
Likud supporters celebrated after the exit polls were announced
The Zionist Union had been ahead in the opinion pollsZionist Union leader Yitzhak Herzog called Mr Netanyahu early on Wednesday to congratulate him on the result and wished him "good luck".
"Nothing has changed, we will keep fighting for a just society," he was quoted as saying by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Analysis:
In the end Israeli opinion polls told the wrong story, yet again. Benjamin Netanyahu scored a much bigger victory than the exit polls had suggested.
In the last few days of the campaign he demonstrated yet again why he is such a formidable politician. The prime minister narrowed the gap with Mr Herzog's Zionist Union, and then overhauled it, by turning sharply towards the ultra-nationalist Israeli right.
He issued a series of grim warnings about the consequences for Israel if he lost - Arabs with Israeli citizenship were voting, so his people needed to turn out.
He also made a series of promises that would worsen Israel's relations with the US and Europe if he continues as prime minister. He promised thousands of new homes for settlers in the occupied territories, and said he would not allow the Palestinians to have a state.
"This is not an easy morning for us and for those who believe in our way," Mr Herzog and Zionist Union co-leader Tzipi Livni said in a statement.
Mr Netanyahu had vowed not to allow the creation of a Palestinian state, while Zionist Union expressed support for a two-state solution and promised to repair relations with Palestinians and the international community.
In the wake of the vote, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Palestinians would step up their bid for statehood.
"It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, so we say clearly that we will go to the International Criminal Court in the Hague and we will speed up, pursue and intensify" diplomatic efforts, he told AFP news agency.
Almost 72% of those eligible voted in Tuesday's election. Turnout was four points higher than the previous election in 2013.
Israel's form of proportional representation always produces smaller parties and coalition government. None has ever won an outright majority under Israel's proportional representation voting system.
The Joint Arab List, an alliance of Israeli Arab-dominated parties that united for the first time, came third with 14 seats.
- Benjamin Netanyahu: Victory for his Likud party could mean a fourth term for the veteran of Israeli politics. His hawkish stance on the Palestinians and Iran have made him popular with the right but a divisive figure.
- Yitzhak Herzog: The co-leader of the centre-left Zionist Union electoral alliance, Mr Herzog has accused Likud of depressing Israeli living standards and campaigned against Mr Netanyahu's foreign policy. He has tried to counter Mr Netanyahu's accusations he is "soft" by pointing to his special forces background.
- Tzipi Livni: Mr Herzog's co-leader in the Zionist Union, Ms Livni is a prominent advocate of seeking more co-operation with the Palestinian Authority.
- Moshe Kahlon: A former Likud welfare and communications minister under Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Kahlon's centre-right Kulanu party could play kingmaker in a coalition.
Israel votes
18 Mar 2015
With
99 percent of the ballot boxes counted, results indicate that the Likud
has won 30 seats and the Zionist Union 24. Voter turnout: 71.8%. Final
results will be published on Thursday, when the process of
coalition-building will begin.
With
99 percent of the ballot boxes counted by Wednesday morning, results
indicate that the Likud has won 30 seats and the Zionist Union 24. The
Joint Arab List placed third with 14 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with
11, Kulanu with 10, Bayit Yehudi with 8, Shas with 7, Yisrael Beytenu
and United Torah Judaism with 6 each, and Meretz with 4 - the last party
to pass the minimum threshold for election.
On Tuesday night, after the closing of the polls, exit polls indicated a tie between the Zionist Union and the Likud with 27-28 seats each.
Voter turnout was high - 71.8%, or more than 4 million, of the 5,881,696 eligible voters casting their ballots.
Final results will be published on Thursday, when the process of coalition-building will begin. President Reuven Rivlin will ask the party heads for recommendations on who they prefer as prime minister. He will assign the task of forming the next government to the Knesset member considered to have the best chance of forming a viable coalition.
On Tuesday night, after the closing of the polls, exit polls indicated a tie between the Zionist Union and the Likud with 27-28 seats each.
Voter turnout was high - 71.8%, or more than 4 million, of the 5,881,696 eligible voters casting their ballots.
Final results will be published on Thursday, when the process of coalition-building will begin. President Reuven Rivlin will ask the party heads for recommendations on who they prefer as prime minister. He will assign the task of forming the next government to the Knesset member considered to have the best chance of forming a viable coalition.
See Declared Result in official israel data site: http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2015/Pages/Israel-votes-17-March-2015.aspx?utm_content=buffer27ba7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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Netanyahu poised for third straight term as Israel PM after chief rival concedes
March
17, 2015: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters
at the Likud party's election headquarters In Tel Aviv
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began working Wednesday to form a coalition government with nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties after his conservative Likud scored a resounding and surprising victory following a fractious election campaign.
Netanyahu said that he had spoken with the heads of five other parties that he hoped to bring into his government, adding that he hopes to complete the delicate task in "two to three weeks."
"The reality isn't waiting on us," Netanyahu said in a statement. "Reality isn't taking a break. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for the sake of the country's security, economy, and society as we promised to do, and that is what I will do."
Also Wednesday, Netanyahu's main rival, Isaac Herzog of the centrist Zionist Union confirmed that he had called the incumbent to congratulate him on his victory.
"I wished him luck, but let it be clear, the problems are the same problems, nothing has changed," said Herzog, who attempted to make economic and social issues the focus of the campaign in contrast to Netanyahu's focus on security. Herzog also vowed that his party would serve as "an alternative in every area" to Likud.
According to official results reported in Israeli media early Wednesday, Likud had won at least 29 seats in the 120-member Knesset, five more than Herzog's centrist Zionist Union. No other party had more than 14 seats, and a party or coalition must have at least 61 seats to form a government. A key bloc that could sew up Netanyahu's premiership is Kulanu, another centrist party lead by former government minister Moshe Kahlon that was projected to earn 10 seats in the latest figures.
Kahlon, whose campaign focused almost entirely on bread-and-butter economic issues, refused to take sides.
"I am loyal to my way," he told his supporters, saying he would work to form a government committed to social justice.
Likud significantly outperformed all the polls in the run-up to the election, all of which had predicted a second-place finish for the party behind the Zionist Union. Netanyahu claimed victory early Wednesday in a speech to cheering supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"Against all the odds we obtained a great victory for the Likud," Netanyahu told the gathering. "Now we must form a strong and stable government that will ensure Israel's security and welfare," he added, in comments aimed at Kahlon.
At a rally of his supporters, Herzog had vowed to do his utmost to form a government and said he too had reached out to potential coalition partners. However, his effort to build a coalition was complicated by the possibility of having to rely on support from a new Arab alliance that was projected to capture 14 seats. But Arab parties have never sat in an Israeli coalition before.
Stav Shaffir, a leader of the Zionist Union, called the results a "clear vote of no confidence in Netanyahu."
Netanyahu had ruled out a "unity" government with the Zionist Union that would give him a broader coalition, and Herzog had also been cool to the idea without explicitly dismissing the prospect.
President Reuven Rivlin will now spend the next few days consulting with the various parties, whose leaders will all offer recommendations for who should be prime minister.
The final weeks of the campaign had become a referendum on Netanyahu, a towering figure in Israeli politics who has spent more time as Prime Minister than anyone except the country's founding father, David Ben-Gurion.
Netanyahu, who already has a testy relationship with President Barack Obama, took a sharp turn to the right in the final days of the campaign, staking out a series of hard-line positions that will put him at odds with the international community.
In his most dramatic policy reversal, he said he now opposes the creation of a Palestinian state — a key policy goal of the White House and the international community. He also promised to expand construction in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.
Netanyahu infuriated the White House early this month when he delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress criticizing an emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The speech was arranged with Republican leaders and not coordinated with the White House ahead of time.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama was confident strong U.S.-Israeli ties would endure far beyond the election regardless of the victor.
The Palestinians, fed up after years of deadlock with Netanyahu, are now likely to press ahead with their attempts to bring war crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.
"What Netanyahu is doing and stating are war crimes and if the international community wants peace it should make Netanyahu accountable for his acts," said Palestinian official Saeb Erekat. He said the Palestinian leadership will meet Thursday to discuss its next steps.
Building Israel's coalition: Follow the latest updates
After Israeli voters gave Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu a resounding victory in Tuesday's election, despite
pre-election polls showing him trailing the Zionist Union, the Likud
leader has begun the work of forming a governing coalition. Who will be
in the new government and what promises will be made to make it happen.
Wednesday
12:09 p.m. British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulates Netanyahu on his win via Twitter.
12:05 p.m. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman said Wednesday that the PA is not concerned with who will be Israel's next prime minister. Nabil Abu Rudeineh was quoted by the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency as saying that the Palestinian Authority wants whichever Israeli government is formed to recognize the two-state solution with east Jerusalem serving as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
Abbas's speaker said that the PA would continue to work with any Israeli government that recognizes "legitimate international resolutions."
If the Israeli government should prove that it is not committed to a two-state solution, then there is no chance for a resumption of the peace process, Abu Rudeineh added.
8:52 a.m. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning to congratulate him on Likud's win.
8:48 a.m. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Wednesday morning welcomed Likud's win.
"It was challenging and hard, but wisdom prevailed, and the Likud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu at the head again won mandates from the people to continue leading."
He continued: "The challenges ahead of us are heavy and complicated, and only the experienced and responsible leadership of Likud with Netanyahu at the head knows how to deal with the challenges. In security, economy, welfare, housing and every topic in our lives- we will continue on the path and lead Israel to new highs, and succeed."
8:20 a.m. The chief Palestinian negotiator expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next Israeli government and has declared that the Palestinians in turn will push forward with legal efforts at the International Criminal Court.
“It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that, we say clearly that we will go to the Hague Tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify” diplomatic efforts, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Agence France-Presse.
7:54 a.m Co-leaders of the Zionist Union Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni release statement saying that they will not stop fighting for the country of Israel.
"This morning has not been any easy one for us or our followers. We will lead and fight together with our partners to the Knesset with the values we believe in. We will fight for the Israeli citizens for social justice, diplomatic prospects, equality and democracy with hope and belief, in order to have a Jewish and democratic country, just and safe. We would like to thank everyone who believed in us, with all of our hearts."
7:07 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement early Wednesday morning inviting potential coalition partners to immediately enter talks for the swift formation of what is expected to be a religious-nationalist government in Jerusalem.
"The reality isn't waiting on us," Netanyahu said just hours after it became clear that his Likud party had scored a decisive victory over Zionist Union in Tuesday's poll. "Reality isn't taking a break. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for the sake of the country's security, economy, and society as we promised to do, and that is what I will do."
The premier said that he had already spoken with the heads of parties that he plans to invite into his coalition, including Bayit Yehudi chief Naftali Bennett, Kulanu's Moshe Kahlon, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman, Shas leader Aryeh Deri, and United Torah Judaism representatives Yaakov Litzman and Moshe Gafni.
"The prime minister plans to immediately begin forming a government in order to complete the task within two to three weeks," he said.
6:58 a.m. Meretz chair Zehava Gal-On announced on Wednesday that she is resigning from her position at the helm of the party in the wake of the movement's disappointing showing in Tuesday's election, Channel 2 reported.
The left-wing party barely earned enough votes to get into the Knesset, with the official tally giving Meretz four seats. Television exit polls had given Meretz five seats, but the official count before dawn on Wednesday revealed that it had in fact dropped a seat.
Gal-On is preparing to hand the reins of the party over to MK Tamar Zandberg, Channel 2 reported.
4:58 a.m. With nearly 95 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud has emerged as the clear, undisputed victor in the elections.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 29 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (14); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (7); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).
4:09 a.m. With nearly 90 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud opens up a significant edge over Zionist Union in the distribution of Knesset seats.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 30 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (13); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (7); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).
3:55 a.m. With 81 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud holds a seven-seat edge over Zionist Union.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 31 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (11); Joint Arab List (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (8); Yisrael Beytenu (6); United Torah Judaism (6); and Meretz (5).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far failed to attract the sufficient number of votes to gain entry into the Knesset.
3:28 a.m. With 75 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud holds a seven-seat edge over Zionist Union.
According to official vote-counters, Likud wins 31 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (11); Joint Arab List (11); Kulanu (9); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (8); Yisrael Beytenu (7); United Torah Judaism (6); and Meretz (5).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far failed to attract the sufficient number of votes to gain entry into the Knesset.
3:06 a.m. With nearly 60 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud maintains its lead over Zionist Union.
According to official vote-counters, after tallying 57 percent of the ballots, Likud draws 24.4 percent of the vote; Zionist Union comes in second at 19 percent.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (8.8 percent); Joint Arab List (8.4 percent); Kulanu (7.6 percent); Bayit Yehudi (6.3 percent); Shas (6.1 percent); Yisrael Beytenu (5.6 percent); United Torah Judaism (5.2 percent); and Meretz (3.9 percent).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far attracted just three percent, insufficient for the minimum four-seat representation in parliament.
2:07 a.m. The returns on voting from ballot boxes indicate that the Likud has significantly extended its lead over Zionist Union.
According to Israel Radio, officials have counted the votes of 25 percent of booths across the country. The results indicate that the Likud wins 32 Knesset seats while Zionist Union garners 25 seats.
Yesh Atid is the third-largest party with 11 seats, Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu faction wins 10 seats, the Arab List nosedives to nine seats, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas movement wins eight seats, Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi dips further to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu, which has only mustered five seats, climbs to seven.
United Torah Judaism wins six seats while Meretz rounds out the list with five seats.
1:06 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv after exit polls showed him either ahead of or tied with the Zionist Union in Tuesday's election.
"My friends, citizens of Israel, thank you. Against all odds we achieved a great victory!" he told his assembled supporters.
"I spoke with all party leaders in the nationalist camp, called on them to join me and form a government without delay," he said.
12:31 a.m. Officials close to President Reuven Rivlin told Channel 1 late Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition if Kulanu head Moshe Kahlon offers his endorsement of the incumbent.
12:25 a.m. Yesh Atid is a political force that cannot be ignored in Israeli politics, party chairman Yair Lapid told supporters in Tel Aviv early Wednesday.
Lapid hailed the election result which places Yesh Atid as "the largest centrist party with double-digit number of Knesset seats."
The former finance minister triumphantly said that "we are here to stay."
Lapid said that his party would continue to combat "corruption and political extortion" while promoting "a friendly, embracing version of Judaism."
12:15 a.m. Isaac Herzog, the head of Zionist Union, told an adoring crowd of supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv just after midnight on Tuesday that his campaign recorded "an extraordinary achievement."
"Not since Yitzhak Rabin's election victory [in 1992] have we gotten this result," Herzog said.
The Labor chairman said that the "achievement would not have been possible without the brave partnership with Tzipi Livni."
Herzog said that the Zionist Union's result "enables us to return to the government."
"It's all wide open," he said. "I've talked with the heads of all of the parties. We don't know what the end results will be, and we will wait, but I plan to do all I can to form a socioeconomic coalition, a real socioeconomic coalition for Israel."
Herzog called on the heads of smaller parties to "unite under my banner and join a national reconciliation government."
12:05 a.m. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party garnered only five mandates in exit polls after Tuesday's Knesset election, said that his party had made it through despite "great forces that tried to eleiminate the party and did not succeed."
"Now we must concern ourselves with the good of the country and afterward we will return to being a party with 15-20 mandates," he said.
12:02 a.m. Moshe Kahlon, the head of the Kulanu Party, was noncommittal late Tuesday when asked which candidate he would endorse for the premiership.
"I said this throughout the campaign – I will endorse the candidate who is committed to healing the country's socioeconomic woes, bringing down housing prices, and lowering the cost of living," Kahlon told Channel 2.
Exit polls show Kahlon's party winning between nine and 10 seats in the parliament, putting him in an advantageous negotiating position with the heads of the two largest parties – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union).
Tuesday
11:57 p.m. Yahad, the far-right faction founded by Shas breakaway Eli Yishai, has won the minimum votes needed to gain representation in parliament, according to Channel 1 exit polls.
The other two networks - Channel 2 and Channel 10 - estimate that Yahad missed the cut.
If Yishai's party has indeed amassed the minimum votes needed to enter the Knesset, it would bolster the nationalist bloc of parties, making it more likely that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition.
11:22 p.m. Channel 2 announced a mistake in its exit polls on Tuesday night. The station lowered its poll numbers for Yesh Atid from 12 to 11 mandates and raised Kulanu's result from nine to 10 mandates.
11:04 p.m. After the polls closed on Tuesday night in the election for the 20th Knesset, the Central Elections Committee reported voter turnout at 71.8 percent, four percent more than the last election's 66.6% turnout.
10:58 p.m. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett spoke at his party's HQ Tuesday following the release of the first exit polls that left his party with an estimated 8-9 seats in the upcoming election.
Bennett said that he is not disappointed in the election turnout, but, on the contrary, stands "proud of the national-religious public for being pioneers and standing up to a political challenge."
10:46 p.m. After polls closed Tuesday night, Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon spoke on the telephone with Likud leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as with Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog.
Kahlon told the leaders of the 20th Knesset election's main contending parties, which appear head-to-head in exit polls, that he would decide with whom his party would align depending on official ballot results.
10:45 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory after the first exit polls released following Tuesday's elections showed the Likud ahead of, or tied with, the Zionist Union.
Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page: "Against all odds, a great victory for the Likud, for the nationalist camp led by the Likud, and for the people of Israel."
10:39: The Zionist Union rejected conjecture that the results of exit polls following Tuesday's election show that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition.
"The Likud continues to err. The right-wing bloc has gotten smaller. Everything is open until the final results are in and we will know which parties passed the electoral threshold and what kind of government we can form. All of the spin and the commentary is too early. We have formed a negotiating team with the goal of putting together a coalition led by [Zionist Union leader Isaac] Herzog.
10:37 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night called Shas leader Arye Deri, and the two agreed to meet Wednesday. Zionist Union co-leader Isaac Herzog also called the Shas leader after the polls closed.
10:35 p.m. Tel Aviv’s Tzavta theater erupted in applause and cheers Tuesday night when exit polls showed Meretz easily surpassed the electoral threshold with five mandates.
“We did it against all odds!,” an elated Meretz head Zehava Gal-on told the room.
10:24 p.m. Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon’s signature grin was on display Tuesday night as the first election surveys showed him taking 9-10 seats, slightly ahead of the last election polls that put him at 8.
Party activists chanted “Here comes the next finance minister!”
Kahlon is expected to take the Finance portfolio given his centrist positioning, which put him in the kingmaking position between the Zionist Union’s Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of Likud.
10:13: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett Tuesday evening following the release of the first exit polls.
Bennett congratulated Netanyahu for his "victory," and the two mutually agreed to begin negotiations for the formation of a nationalistic coalition government that would work to better the security and well-being of the Israeli people.
10 p.m: The first exit polls were released Tuesday as voting closed in elections for the 20th Knesset, suggesting a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union.
Channel 2's poll had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 28 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 12 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 8 mandates, Kulanu with 9 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 6 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Channel 10's polls had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 27 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 11 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 8 mandates, Kulanu with10 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 7 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Channel 1's polls had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 27 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 12 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 9 mandates, Kulanu with 10 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 6 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
9:52 p.m. Joint Arab List leader Ayman Oudeh predicts getting 15 mandates, with 65 percent turnout in the Arab sector.
9:20 p.m. At 8p.m. the IPS said that the polls had closed at the nation's prisons and that the overall voter turnout for inmates stood at 81.74%, well over the nationwide percentage, which was around 65% by late evening.
9:00 p.m. Yahad party leader Eli Yishai said he had been informed Tuesday evening that his faction was lacking thousands of votes in order to reach the electoral threshold, and called on all Israeli citizens who had not yet cast their ballots to support him.
"If there's no 'Yahad' there is no Right!" the former Shas leader said on Facebook, adding that his campaign workers would do all they could to keep the faction and the right-wing bloc afloat.
8:35 p.m. Voter turnout was at 65.7 percent by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure registered slightly more than the 63.9% voter turnout at the same hour in the 2013 election.
7:10 p.m. "[Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu lost today the legitimacy to rule," Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said Tuesday, hours before the polling booths were set to close. In a Facebook post, Gal-On accused Netanyahu of racist incitement against Israel's Arabs, slamming it as "unacceptable, even if it had come from a marginal politician, but when the prime minister of Israel dares to call the votes of 20% of the population a threat that must be acted against, when he describes their exercising their democratic rights as if they are an enemy invading the country, he transforms himself into unsuitable to serve in this role, regardless of the election results today."
7:32 p.m. The Likud reacted angrily on Tuesday to the Central Elections Committee's decision to bar the broadcast of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's press conference on radio and television on the grounds that it constitutes illegal electioneering on voting day. "While Tzipi and Buji have interviewed on all the television stations all day long, the first that they decided to ban the broadcast of was the prime minister. They will not shut our mouths. The prime minister will put out his comments on the Internet."
Netanyahu put out a short clip of him addressing supporters on a megaphone, saying "I'm asking you to do just one thing, those who haven't voted go vote Machal," he said, referencing the three word Hebrew symbol on Likud's voting slips. "Bring your relatives, neighbors, friends, everyone to vote Machal. If you want me as a prime minister and you don't want Herzog and his partner Livni atop a leftist government with the support iof the Arabs, you must vote Machal, Machal and again Machal."
6:45 p.m. In the election for the 20th Knesset, 54.6 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, reported the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure - taken from 8,791 polling stations - trailed slightly from the 55.5% voter turnout at the same hour in the last election in 2013.
6:35 p.m. Police arrested a 23-year-old Sderot resident Tuesday on suspicion of threatening former defense minister and MK Amir Peretz (Hatnua) at a voting station in the southern city.
6:30 p.m. The Central Elections Committee on Tuesday barred Israeli television and radio stations from broadcasting a scheduled press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision by Israel Elections Committee chairman Justice Salim Joubran came after a petition issued by the Zionist Union and Yesh Atid argued that such a press conference would violate electioneering laws on the day of the vote.
6:21 p.m. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, saying that "Netanyahu's panic is embarrassing." Netanyahu had tried to get out the right-wing vote earlier on Tuesday by warning that Arab voters were going en masse to the polls. Herzog said in response that "those who want a prime minister that cares about his citizens and doesn't incite or divide must stand up, go out and vote."
5:59: 51 criminal cases have been opened thus far Tuesday for people impersonating others at voting booths, theft of vote slips, or for threatening staffers.
5:25 p.m. Likud MK Ze'ev Elkin's grandfather, Arkadi Verchovsky, died at age 90 at his polling place in Neve Ya'akov, immediately after voting.
Verchovsky was a veteran of World War II who fought in the Red Army. He moved to Israel from the US in 2004.
Elkin told Ma'ariv that his grandfather was active until his last day, and even went out to convince his neighbors to vote for Likud last week.
4:50 p.m. The voter turnout rate by 4 p.m Tuesday to the elections polls stood at 45.4 percent, according to the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure trailed slightly from the 46.6% voter turnout at the same hour in the last election in January 2013.
4:20 p.m. Likud MK Miri Regev called on all of Israel's citizens to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote in favor of her party, lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in order to prevent the possibility of Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog from assuming the premiership.
As Regev cast her vote, she noted that constituents from the Israeli Arab sector were arrivng to polling stations and increasing the voter turnout. She said that buses provided by the V15 group that seeks a new government were transporting Israeli Arabs with the goal of overthrowing the current right-wing government.
4:13 p.m. State Comptroller Jospeh Shapira will tour the country’s election polling sites as around 100 of his staff police check those sites for Election Day violations.
The 100 staff members are split into 40 groups to better cover the country’s 19 regional polling cites as well as special polling sites, such as IDF, prison, and hospital sites, which have encountered serious problems.
The comptroller’s office will be checking for violations of: harm to purity of elections, proper spreading out of polling sites and their logistical operations, sufficient access to polling sites in specific areas and the manner in which the votes are collected and counted.
2:49 p.m. As of 2:00 p.m. voter turnout was 36.7% the Central Elections Committee said on Tuesday. The number represents a slight drop from the voter turnout in the 2013 election when at the same time then voter turnout was 38.3%.
2:26 p.m. Shortly after casting his Knesset vote on Tuesday, President Reuven Rivlin met with representatives of the apolitical seekers of social justice who set out from Tel Aviv on Thursday.
The group included Yaacov Cohen representing people with physical disabilities; Tal Kadish-Gekler representing the protest group ‘a park is not a storehouse’; Dr. Arel Buczinski of the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and 17 year old Gal Yosef, who chairs the National Student Council.
The four, together with other marchers shared their manifold grievances with the president and voiced their strong opposition to the election campaigns of the various political parties and the vengeful incitement which characterized several of the campaigns.
1:42 p.m. Ta’al Party chairman MK Ahmed Tibi, fourth on the Joint (Arab) List, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “can relax” since he does not seek to be on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but one dealing with economic affairs such as the Finance Committee in order to have in impact on the Arab sector.
“Herzog or Bibi [Netanyahu's nickname] will not choose what positions we will have in the next Knesset, it depends on the voters and the number of mandates the Joint List gets,” said Tibi.
Asked about Joint List head Ayman Odeh’s comments to the Post on Monday, where he did not rule out recommending Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to form the next government, saying such a decision would only come after serious talks.
1:35 p.m. "The Right-wing controlled government is in danger," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
"Arab voters are going to the vote in droves. The Left-wing organizations are bringing them to the polling stations in buses," Netanyahu wrote.
Netanyahu implored voters to go vote Likud and to bring their family and friends in order to close the gap with the Labor (Zionist Union).
12:56 p.m. Voter turnout as of 12:00 noon was 26.5% of eligible voters, the Central Elections Committee reported. The figure was similar to the turnout percentage in the 2013 election at the same time.
12:33 p.m. Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said the high voter turnout rate is "good for the nation and good for Israel."
11:45 p.m. Voter turnout as of 10:00 on Tuesday was 13.7% representing 757,880 voters in 9,100 polling stations.
Turnout was 2.7% higher compared to the same time in the 2013 election, the Israel Elections Authority said.
As of 11:00 a.m. 10% of Israeli Arabs voted as opposed to only 3% at this time in the last election, according to the Arab Joint List party.
11:26 a.m. "Today we have an opportunity to bring about a revolution and to end six bad years of Right-wing governments and bring hope and sanity back to the state of Israel," head of Meretz Zehava Gal-On said after she voted in Petah Tikva.
Gal-On addressed the undecided voters saying it was in their hands whether Israel would receive a Knesset without Meretz or if there would be a government of hope and justice that included Meretz.
11: 08 a.m. According to the chairwoman of the Central Elections Committee, Orly Adas, as of 9 a.m., two hours after the ballots opened, voter turnout was 7.4%.
11:05 a.m. Former President Shimon Peres, who lives in Tel Aviv, specially came to Jerusalem to vote at the School for the Arts.
Peres arrived slightly ahead of schedule and entered through a side door after one of his security guards was satisfied that there was no cause for concern.
This was the fourth time that Peres was voting at the School for the Arts. In addition to two previous Knesset elections, he also voted in the last Jerusalem municipal elections.
Addressing the media Peres said that there have been so many attacks against Israeli democracy, that the elections were a means of demonstrating Israel’s democratic process.
“I and most other Israelis care about Israel’s image and we care about democracy in our country,” he said. “Many people are watching the process of democracy in Israel and I call on everyone to contribute to an understanding by the world that Israelis care and that they prove this by voting.”
10:37 a.m. Head of Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman called on voters on Tuesday to vote for any Zionist party from Meretz on the Left to Bayit Yehudi on the Right.
"It doesn't matter if it Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu or Bayit Yehudi. The main thing is to go out and vote for a Zionist party because it is important to preserve the Jewish and Zionist character of the state of Israel," Liberman said.
10:17 a.m. On her official Facebook page Tzipi Livni said that she did not hesitate when voting because she believed that her vote was one of many that reflected "the hope and expectation that all votes for the Zionist Union represented ."
Livini added that the election period was difficult for her, suggesting that figures from other parties had sown a lot of "dramatics, lies, political spin, chauvinism, hatred and incitement but with little substance."
The Zionist Party's co-chair reiterate her party's adherence to the principles of protecting a Zionist state, a Jewish and Democratic state that is united, socially just and that promises freedom of expression.
Taking one final jab at the sitting prime minister, Livni reminded voters that " if you want Bibi to get out of the prime minister's office, vote for the Zionist Union."
10:00 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party admitted to forging a recording of Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon promising to support Netanyahu, according to a Kulanu spokesman.
The party distributed the recording to potential voters on Monday evening, but Central Elections Committee Judge Salim Joubran ordered the group to halt using the recording at Kulanu's request.
Kahlon called the recording "criminal" and asked Joubran to open a criminal investigation into it.
"We are pleased that Judge Joubran stopped the Likud from continuing to distribute this untruthful recording," the party said. "It is sad that the LIkud party, in a moment of desperation, chooses to deceive the public."
Joubran fined the Likud NIS 20,000 over the forged recording.
9:49 a.m. "We are here to fight for the State of Israel," said Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, speaking at the ballot beside his wife after casting his vote in Tel Aviv.
"There is a chance that instead of having a good government that will bring hope to the State of Israel, we will end up with the "Bujie" party and the Haredis who will sell all the Israeli people's assets."
"They will return the budget to the yeshivas, will cancel equality of burden and will arrive at a situation in which public funds will be taken from daily housing , single mothers, initiatives to decrease overcrowding in the classroom," Lapid added.
9:00 a.m. "Today is a celebration of democracy," Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday as he voted near his home in Tel Aviv.
"The nation will decide who its leaders will be. The elections are about hope. Whoever wants despair and disapointement should vote for Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] but those who want hope and change should vote for me," Herzog said.
8:30 a.m. Casting a ballot for the Knesset for the 18th time, President Reuven Rivlin called on all Israelis on Tuesday morning to vote and “decide the state’s future each according to one’s world view.”
7:27 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to form a nationalist government.
As the voting booths opened for Election Day, Netanyahu posted a notice on his Facebook page pledging to first invite Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett into his coalition.
Netanyahu reiterated that he has no plans to form a unity government with the Zionist Union.
7:11 a.m. Nearly six million voters will be eligible to cast ballots in more than 10,000 polling stations across the country Tuesday in an election that is expected to attract the highest voter turnout since 1999.
Until that race, voter turnouts regularly approached 80 percent.
Since then, they have not hit 70%. But the closeness of the race – combined with boosted resources aimed at getting out the vote – are expected to significantly increase turnout.
Exit polls will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Tuesday on the three television networks, but official results will not be presented to President Reuven Rivlin until March 25. Formal consultations on forming a new government will begin next week, but Rivlin will receive calls before then in an effort to build a stable coalition as soon as possible.
Internal polls taken Sunday by the Zionist Union, the Likud and Bayit Yehudi all found that the race had tightened over the last few days, because the Likud had taken seats away from Bayit Yehudi voters and undecided voters on the Right.
04:10 a.m. After picking up requisite vouchers by Monday, many Israelis will ride public transportation free of charge on Tuesday to and from polling stations located more than 20 kilometers away from their residences.
Through Monday, the Central Election Committee issued vouchers at Israel Post Office branches, and on Tuesday, voucher holders can redeem tickets with their vouchers at Israel Railway stations and central bus stations around the country.
Those traveling on public transportation on Tuesday should expect an array of schedule changes throughout Election Day. From morning through 9 p.m., trains will depart once an hour, on a cyclical schedule, with trains resuming their normal weekday schedules at approximately 9 p.m., Israel Railways said. Passengers can check the company's website, rail.co.il, for a list of the exact times trains will pass through each station during the day.
Egged, meanwhile, stressed that election day bus schedules are subject to changes, and that customers should remain updated by visiting the company's website at egged.co.il or calling the customer service center at *2800. (Sharon Udasin)
Monday
23:20 p.m. Fair, warm weather expected for Election Day as Israelis head out to the polls on Tuesday, they can expect pleasant weather, with fair to partly cloudy skies and a slight rise in temperatures, the Israel Meteorological Service forecasted.
21:26 p.m. Joint (Arab) List head Ayman Odeh told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday evening that he does not rule out recommending Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to form the next government, saying that such a decision would only come after serious talks.
“We will for sure sit and listen to Herzog” and make known our position on promoting equality and improving all of Israeli society, said Odeh, adding, “But we cannot join the coalition.”
20:21 p.m. The Likud party slammed Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni following the report that Livni would not share the rotation for prime minister with her co-leader should they win the general election.
"Tzipi [Tzipi Livni] and Boujie [Isaac Herzog's] wavering is a cynical move that is meant to increase the gap between the Zionist Union party and the Likud which would ensure an extreme left-wing government with the cooperation of the Joint Arab List and the parties on the left.
The Likud said the move represents how a future left-wing government would respond to pressure on the Palestinian issue.
"As they surrendered with this move in response the polls, so they will surrender to international pressure and they will make concessions and retreat," the Likud said in a statement.
20:14 p.m. Leader of the Zionist Union party Isaac Herzog told Channel 2 that the alliance between him and his co-leader Tzipi Livni was as strong as ever.
He said that Livni had said in the past that she was prepared to give up the rotation if it hurt efforts to form a coalition.
20:05 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 2 following the news that Tzipi Livni was willing to give up the rotation for prime minister with her co-leader Isaac Herzog that the move proved that the two leaders were panicking and could not handle pressure.
19:57 p.m. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett says Livni's willingness to give up the rotation is a sign Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form a unity coalition.
19:50 p.m. Zionist Union co-leader Tzipi Livni is prepared to forgo the rotation agreement with fellow co-leader Isaac Herzog if it will help in negotiations to form a coalition after Tuesday's election, Channel 2 reported on Monday.
According to the deal, which saw Livni bring her Hatnua faction into the Labor party to form the Zionist Union, she and Herzog would split the term, with each serving two years as prime minister should the party form the next coalition.
19:28 p.m. Palestinians from across the political spectrum said Monday that they were not pinning any hopes on the general elections in Israel, mainly because they do not see a difference between the two major powers, Likud and Labor (Zionist Union).
Although the Palestinian Authority’s official stance has been that the elections are an internal Israeli affair, some officials in Ramallah expressed hope that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party would lose the vote.
18:45 p.m. Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, the leader of the rebel haredi group known as the Jerusalem Faction, issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not be voting in the upcoming election.
Although no clear instructions were given by the rabbi to loyalists of the Jerusalem Faction as to whom to vote for, Auerbach’s message certainly means that his supporters will not be voting for United Torah Judaism, the political party from where the renegade camp originated.
Auerbach, 84, and the Jerusalem Faction command as many as 30,000 votes, approaching one Knesset seat, but are engaged in a long-running feud with Degel Hatorah, the non-hassidic bloc of the UTJ.
5:42 p.m. Meretz focused its efforts on making sure the party doesn't slip below the 3.25 percent electoral threshold as Election Day approached. Party chairwoman Zehava Gal-On pleaded with Meretz voters to stay with the party, in a video she on Facebook, stating that "the strategic vote is the one that is in your heart."
"Don't give in to the false, dangerous spin that says that the head of the largest party will form the next government," she added. "That is a lie. That is an attempt to steal votes from Meretz. The truth is that the president tasks the person who receives the most recommendations with forming the government, not the head of the largest party. That's the law in Israel."
5:20 p.m. Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beytenu chairman, Avigdor Liberman, made a visit this afternoon to Moshav Nativ Ha'asara where he spoke at the site of an excavated tunnel built by Hamas terrorists. Liberman said that if he were defense minister, Hamas members would not be able to reconstruct tunnel networks. In addition, he also assured residents living near the Gaza Strip and in the South that the state is committed to their safety, and as defense minister he would make sure that the next round of fighting against Hamas will be the last.
4:17 p.m. Leader of the Kulanu party Moshe Kahlon was trying to rally support among undecided voters in a telephone blitz from his party's headquarters in Lod on Monday.
"Only a strong Kulanu can bring about changes that will lower the cost of living, solve the housing crisis and close the social gaps," Kahlon said on Monday.
4:15 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a neighborhood located beyond the green line he helped found as the backdrop on Monday for an election eve bid to win back right-wing votes. "The choice is symbolic: the Likud led by me, that will continue to stand firmly for (Israel's) vital interests, compared with a left-wing government ... ready to accept any dictate," he said in a campaign speech located in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood.
3:38 p.m. An internal Likud poll has shown for the first time that a majority of Israelis do not believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, a Likud source said Monday. On March 9, the Likud's data showed that 62.3% thought that Netanyahu would form the coalition and 19.9 % thought that Zionist Union leaders Issac Herzog and Tzipi Livni would form the government. On Monday, for the first time, the number believing Netanyahu would form the government fell to 49.6 %, while 30.4 % thought Herzog would form the coalition. It marked the first time since the election campaign began that the number dipped below 50 percent. The polls are taken by McLaughlin and associates, the American Republican strategist working for the Netanyahu campaign.
2:50 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Likud campaign headquarters in Or Yehuda. "There is still a gap between Likud and Labor. We can still bridge that gap. The way to do it is for the entire nationalist camp to vote [Likud] ... Tzipi and Buji would build a government with the Arab list, whose secretary-general said Hamas is not a terror group. The way to avoid that is to vote [Likud]."
2:15 p.m. Yahad leader Eli Yishai sent a letter of reconciliation to Shas leader Arye Deri Monday after having challenged Shas for the ultra-Orthodox vote. "The time has come to work together and to end the disagreement," Yishai wrote in the letter, calling on Deri to work together with Yahad in the run-up to Tuesday's election.
1:58 p.m. Bayit Yehudi officials confirmed on Monday that internal polling showed the party dropping to a single-digit number from last week's polls giving it an average of 11.8, shrinking the gap between Likud and Zionist Union. MK Ayelet Shaked wrote on Facebook Monday that "24 [for Likud] and 12 [for Bayit Yehudi] are 36 seats loyal to the Land of Israel, but 27 seats for Likud and nine for Bayit Yehudi, God forbid, means that there won't be a change in the Justice Ministry, that Naftali Bennett will be the head of a faction in the opposition, that the Land of Israel will be left at the mercy of [former Shin Bet director and current Likud candidate] Avi Dichter."
12:20 p.m. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said during a campaign trip to the North that "in less than 24 hours we will go to the polls and already the corruption is back. They are giving away public money wholesale, trying to cancel equal service for all. Both Bibi and Buji will give the money back to the yeshivot."
11:55 a.m. The Likud party responded to former prime minister Ehud Barak's endorsement of Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog for prime minister. "The last time they brought about the second Intifada and buses blowing up in the heart of our cities. This time, they are again using left-wing organizations with millions of dollars flowing from abroad in order to bring up the Arab vote turnout. The only way to stop it is by having more votes to Likud."
10:11 a.m. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak put his support behind Zionist Union's Isaac Herzog. In a statement, Barak, who also served as defense minister and IDF chief of staff, said that Herzog is a balanced, experienced and responsible person.
9:15 a.m. Police complete security arrangements for Election Day tomorrow across country. Extra officers will patrol areas at 10,000 polling stations, National Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says.
Wednesday
12:09 p.m. British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulates Netanyahu on his win via Twitter.
12:05 p.m. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman said Wednesday that the PA is not concerned with who will be Israel's next prime minister. Nabil Abu Rudeineh was quoted by the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency as saying that the Palestinian Authority wants whichever Israeli government is formed to recognize the two-state solution with east Jerusalem serving as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
Abbas's speaker said that the PA would continue to work with any Israeli government that recognizes "legitimate international resolutions."
If the Israeli government should prove that it is not committed to a two-state solution, then there is no chance for a resumption of the peace process, Abu Rudeineh added.
8:52 a.m. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning to congratulate him on Likud's win.
8:48 a.m. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Wednesday morning welcomed Likud's win.
"It was challenging and hard, but wisdom prevailed, and the Likud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu at the head again won mandates from the people to continue leading."
He continued: "The challenges ahead of us are heavy and complicated, and only the experienced and responsible leadership of Likud with Netanyahu at the head knows how to deal with the challenges. In security, economy, welfare, housing and every topic in our lives- we will continue on the path and lead Israel to new highs, and succeed."
8:20 a.m. The chief Palestinian negotiator expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next Israeli government and has declared that the Palestinians in turn will push forward with legal efforts at the International Criminal Court.
“It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that, we say clearly that we will go to the Hague Tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify” diplomatic efforts, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Agence France-Presse.
7:54 a.m Co-leaders of the Zionist Union Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni release statement saying that they will not stop fighting for the country of Israel.
"This morning has not been any easy one for us or our followers. We will lead and fight together with our partners to the Knesset with the values we believe in. We will fight for the Israeli citizens for social justice, diplomatic prospects, equality and democracy with hope and belief, in order to have a Jewish and democratic country, just and safe. We would like to thank everyone who believed in us, with all of our hearts."
7:07 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement early Wednesday morning inviting potential coalition partners to immediately enter talks for the swift formation of what is expected to be a religious-nationalist government in Jerusalem.
"The reality isn't waiting on us," Netanyahu said just hours after it became clear that his Likud party had scored a decisive victory over Zionist Union in Tuesday's poll. "Reality isn't taking a break. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for the sake of the country's security, economy, and society as we promised to do, and that is what I will do."
The premier said that he had already spoken with the heads of parties that he plans to invite into his coalition, including Bayit Yehudi chief Naftali Bennett, Kulanu's Moshe Kahlon, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman, Shas leader Aryeh Deri, and United Torah Judaism representatives Yaakov Litzman and Moshe Gafni.
"The prime minister plans to immediately begin forming a government in order to complete the task within two to three weeks," he said.
6:58 a.m. Meretz chair Zehava Gal-On announced on Wednesday that she is resigning from her position at the helm of the party in the wake of the movement's disappointing showing in Tuesday's election, Channel 2 reported.
The left-wing party barely earned enough votes to get into the Knesset, with the official tally giving Meretz four seats. Television exit polls had given Meretz five seats, but the official count before dawn on Wednesday revealed that it had in fact dropped a seat.
Gal-On is preparing to hand the reins of the party over to MK Tamar Zandberg, Channel 2 reported.
4:58 a.m. With nearly 95 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud has emerged as the clear, undisputed victor in the elections.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 29 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (14); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (7); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).
4:09 a.m. With nearly 90 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud opens up a significant edge over Zionist Union in the distribution of Knesset seats.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 30 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (13); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (7); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).
3:55 a.m. With 81 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud holds a seven-seat edge over Zionist Union.
According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 31 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (11); Joint Arab List (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (8); Yisrael Beytenu (6); United Torah Judaism (6); and Meretz (5).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far failed to attract the sufficient number of votes to gain entry into the Knesset.
3:28 a.m. With 75 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud holds a seven-seat edge over Zionist Union.
According to official vote-counters, Likud wins 31 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (11); Joint Arab List (11); Kulanu (9); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (8); Yisrael Beytenu (7); United Torah Judaism (6); and Meretz (5).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far failed to attract the sufficient number of votes to gain entry into the Knesset.
3:06 a.m. With nearly 60 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud maintains its lead over Zionist Union.
According to official vote-counters, after tallying 57 percent of the ballots, Likud draws 24.4 percent of the vote; Zionist Union comes in second at 19 percent.
The parties that follow are Yesh Atid (8.8 percent); Joint Arab List (8.4 percent); Kulanu (7.6 percent); Bayit Yehudi (6.3 percent); Shas (6.1 percent); Yisrael Beytenu (5.6 percent); United Torah Judaism (5.2 percent); and Meretz (3.9 percent).
Eli Yishai's far-right outfit Yahad has so far attracted just three percent, insufficient for the minimum four-seat representation in parliament.
2:07 a.m. The returns on voting from ballot boxes indicate that the Likud has significantly extended its lead over Zionist Union.
According to Israel Radio, officials have counted the votes of 25 percent of booths across the country. The results indicate that the Likud wins 32 Knesset seats while Zionist Union garners 25 seats.
Yesh Atid is the third-largest party with 11 seats, Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu faction wins 10 seats, the Arab List nosedives to nine seats, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas movement wins eight seats, Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi dips further to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu, which has only mustered five seats, climbs to seven.
United Torah Judaism wins six seats while Meretz rounds out the list with five seats.
1:06 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv after exit polls showed him either ahead of or tied with the Zionist Union in Tuesday's election.
"My friends, citizens of Israel, thank you. Against all odds we achieved a great victory!" he told his assembled supporters.
"I spoke with all party leaders in the nationalist camp, called on them to join me and form a government without delay," he said.
12:31 a.m. Officials close to President Reuven Rivlin told Channel 1 late Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition if Kulanu head Moshe Kahlon offers his endorsement of the incumbent.
12:25 a.m. Yesh Atid is a political force that cannot be ignored in Israeli politics, party chairman Yair Lapid told supporters in Tel Aviv early Wednesday.
Lapid hailed the election result which places Yesh Atid as "the largest centrist party with double-digit number of Knesset seats."
The former finance minister triumphantly said that "we are here to stay."
Lapid said that his party would continue to combat "corruption and political extortion" while promoting "a friendly, embracing version of Judaism."
12:15 a.m. Isaac Herzog, the head of Zionist Union, told an adoring crowd of supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv just after midnight on Tuesday that his campaign recorded "an extraordinary achievement."
"Not since Yitzhak Rabin's election victory [in 1992] have we gotten this result," Herzog said.
The Labor chairman said that the "achievement would not have been possible without the brave partnership with Tzipi Livni."
Herzog said that the Zionist Union's result "enables us to return to the government."
"It's all wide open," he said. "I've talked with the heads of all of the parties. We don't know what the end results will be, and we will wait, but I plan to do all I can to form a socioeconomic coalition, a real socioeconomic coalition for Israel."
Herzog called on the heads of smaller parties to "unite under my banner and join a national reconciliation government."
12:05 a.m. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party garnered only five mandates in exit polls after Tuesday's Knesset election, said that his party had made it through despite "great forces that tried to eleiminate the party and did not succeed."
"Now we must concern ourselves with the good of the country and afterward we will return to being a party with 15-20 mandates," he said.
12:02 a.m. Moshe Kahlon, the head of the Kulanu Party, was noncommittal late Tuesday when asked which candidate he would endorse for the premiership.
"I said this throughout the campaign – I will endorse the candidate who is committed to healing the country's socioeconomic woes, bringing down housing prices, and lowering the cost of living," Kahlon told Channel 2.
Exit polls show Kahlon's party winning between nine and 10 seats in the parliament, putting him in an advantageous negotiating position with the heads of the two largest parties – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union).
Tuesday
11:57 p.m. Yahad, the far-right faction founded by Shas breakaway Eli Yishai, has won the minimum votes needed to gain representation in parliament, according to Channel 1 exit polls.
The other two networks - Channel 2 and Channel 10 - estimate that Yahad missed the cut.
If Yishai's party has indeed amassed the minimum votes needed to enter the Knesset, it would bolster the nationalist bloc of parties, making it more likely that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition.
11:22 p.m. Channel 2 announced a mistake in its exit polls on Tuesday night. The station lowered its poll numbers for Yesh Atid from 12 to 11 mandates and raised Kulanu's result from nine to 10 mandates.
11:04 p.m. After the polls closed on Tuesday night in the election for the 20th Knesset, the Central Elections Committee reported voter turnout at 71.8 percent, four percent more than the last election's 66.6% turnout.
10:58 p.m. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett spoke at his party's HQ Tuesday following the release of the first exit polls that left his party with an estimated 8-9 seats in the upcoming election.
Bennett said that he is not disappointed in the election turnout, but, on the contrary, stands "proud of the national-religious public for being pioneers and standing up to a political challenge."
10:46 p.m. After polls closed Tuesday night, Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon spoke on the telephone with Likud leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as with Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog.
Kahlon told the leaders of the 20th Knesset election's main contending parties, which appear head-to-head in exit polls, that he would decide with whom his party would align depending on official ballot results.
10:45 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory after the first exit polls released following Tuesday's elections showed the Likud ahead of, or tied with, the Zionist Union.
Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page: "Against all odds, a great victory for the Likud, for the nationalist camp led by the Likud, and for the people of Israel."
10:39: The Zionist Union rejected conjecture that the results of exit polls following Tuesday's election show that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next coalition.
"The Likud continues to err. The right-wing bloc has gotten smaller. Everything is open until the final results are in and we will know which parties passed the electoral threshold and what kind of government we can form. All of the spin and the commentary is too early. We have formed a negotiating team with the goal of putting together a coalition led by [Zionist Union leader Isaac] Herzog.
10:37 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night called Shas leader Arye Deri, and the two agreed to meet Wednesday. Zionist Union co-leader Isaac Herzog also called the Shas leader after the polls closed.
10:35 p.m. Tel Aviv’s Tzavta theater erupted in applause and cheers Tuesday night when exit polls showed Meretz easily surpassed the electoral threshold with five mandates.
“We did it against all odds!,” an elated Meretz head Zehava Gal-on told the room.
10:24 p.m. Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon’s signature grin was on display Tuesday night as the first election surveys showed him taking 9-10 seats, slightly ahead of the last election polls that put him at 8.
Party activists chanted “Here comes the next finance minister!”
Kahlon is expected to take the Finance portfolio given his centrist positioning, which put him in the kingmaking position between the Zionist Union’s Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of Likud.
10:13: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett Tuesday evening following the release of the first exit polls.
Bennett congratulated Netanyahu for his "victory," and the two mutually agreed to begin negotiations for the formation of a nationalistic coalition government that would work to better the security and well-being of the Israeli people.
10 p.m: The first exit polls were released Tuesday as voting closed in elections for the 20th Knesset, suggesting a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union.
Channel 2's poll had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 28 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 12 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 8 mandates, Kulanu with 9 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 6 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Channel 10's polls had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 27 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 11 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 8 mandates, Kulanu with10 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 7 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
Channel 1's polls had the Zionist Union with 27 mandates, the Likud with 27 mandates, the Joint Arab List with 13 mandates, Yesh Atid with 12 mandates, Bayit Yehudi with 9 mandates, Kulanu with 10 mandates, Shas with 7 mandates, United Torah Judaism with 6 mandates, Meretz with 5 mandates, Yisrael Beytenu with 5 mandates and Yahad failing to pass the electoral threshold.
9:52 p.m. Joint Arab List leader Ayman Oudeh predicts getting 15 mandates, with 65 percent turnout in the Arab sector.
9:20 p.m. At 8p.m. the IPS said that the polls had closed at the nation's prisons and that the overall voter turnout for inmates stood at 81.74%, well over the nationwide percentage, which was around 65% by late evening.
9:00 p.m. Yahad party leader Eli Yishai said he had been informed Tuesday evening that his faction was lacking thousands of votes in order to reach the electoral threshold, and called on all Israeli citizens who had not yet cast their ballots to support him.
"If there's no 'Yahad' there is no Right!" the former Shas leader said on Facebook, adding that his campaign workers would do all they could to keep the faction and the right-wing bloc afloat.
8:35 p.m. Voter turnout was at 65.7 percent by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure registered slightly more than the 63.9% voter turnout at the same hour in the 2013 election.
7:10 p.m. "[Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu lost today the legitimacy to rule," Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said Tuesday, hours before the polling booths were set to close. In a Facebook post, Gal-On accused Netanyahu of racist incitement against Israel's Arabs, slamming it as "unacceptable, even if it had come from a marginal politician, but when the prime minister of Israel dares to call the votes of 20% of the population a threat that must be acted against, when he describes their exercising their democratic rights as if they are an enemy invading the country, he transforms himself into unsuitable to serve in this role, regardless of the election results today."
7:32 p.m. The Likud reacted angrily on Tuesday to the Central Elections Committee's decision to bar the broadcast of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's press conference on radio and television on the grounds that it constitutes illegal electioneering on voting day. "While Tzipi and Buji have interviewed on all the television stations all day long, the first that they decided to ban the broadcast of was the prime minister. They will not shut our mouths. The prime minister will put out his comments on the Internet."
Netanyahu put out a short clip of him addressing supporters on a megaphone, saying "I'm asking you to do just one thing, those who haven't voted go vote Machal," he said, referencing the three word Hebrew symbol on Likud's voting slips. "Bring your relatives, neighbors, friends, everyone to vote Machal. If you want me as a prime minister and you don't want Herzog and his partner Livni atop a leftist government with the support iof the Arabs, you must vote Machal, Machal and again Machal."
6:45 p.m. In the election for the 20th Knesset, 54.6 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, reported the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure - taken from 8,791 polling stations - trailed slightly from the 55.5% voter turnout at the same hour in the last election in 2013.
6:35 p.m. Police arrested a 23-year-old Sderot resident Tuesday on suspicion of threatening former defense minister and MK Amir Peretz (Hatnua) at a voting station in the southern city.
6:30 p.m. The Central Elections Committee on Tuesday barred Israeli television and radio stations from broadcasting a scheduled press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision by Israel Elections Committee chairman Justice Salim Joubran came after a petition issued by the Zionist Union and Yesh Atid argued that such a press conference would violate electioneering laws on the day of the vote.
6:21 p.m. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, saying that "Netanyahu's panic is embarrassing." Netanyahu had tried to get out the right-wing vote earlier on Tuesday by warning that Arab voters were going en masse to the polls. Herzog said in response that "those who want a prime minister that cares about his citizens and doesn't incite or divide must stand up, go out and vote."
5:59: 51 criminal cases have been opened thus far Tuesday for people impersonating others at voting booths, theft of vote slips, or for threatening staffers.
5:25 p.m. Likud MK Ze'ev Elkin's grandfather, Arkadi Verchovsky, died at age 90 at his polling place in Neve Ya'akov, immediately after voting.
Verchovsky was a veteran of World War II who fought in the Red Army. He moved to Israel from the US in 2004.
Elkin told Ma'ariv that his grandfather was active until his last day, and even went out to convince his neighbors to vote for Likud last week.
4:50 p.m. The voter turnout rate by 4 p.m Tuesday to the elections polls stood at 45.4 percent, according to the Central Elections Committee.
The latest figure trailed slightly from the 46.6% voter turnout at the same hour in the last election in January 2013.
4:20 p.m. Likud MK Miri Regev called on all of Israel's citizens to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote in favor of her party, lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in order to prevent the possibility of Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog from assuming the premiership.
As Regev cast her vote, she noted that constituents from the Israeli Arab sector were arrivng to polling stations and increasing the voter turnout. She said that buses provided by the V15 group that seeks a new government were transporting Israeli Arabs with the goal of overthrowing the current right-wing government.
4:13 p.m. State Comptroller Jospeh Shapira will tour the country’s election polling sites as around 100 of his staff police check those sites for Election Day violations.
The 100 staff members are split into 40 groups to better cover the country’s 19 regional polling cites as well as special polling sites, such as IDF, prison, and hospital sites, which have encountered serious problems.
The comptroller’s office will be checking for violations of: harm to purity of elections, proper spreading out of polling sites and their logistical operations, sufficient access to polling sites in specific areas and the manner in which the votes are collected and counted.
2:49 p.m. As of 2:00 p.m. voter turnout was 36.7% the Central Elections Committee said on Tuesday. The number represents a slight drop from the voter turnout in the 2013 election when at the same time then voter turnout was 38.3%.
2:26 p.m. Shortly after casting his Knesset vote on Tuesday, President Reuven Rivlin met with representatives of the apolitical seekers of social justice who set out from Tel Aviv on Thursday.
The group included Yaacov Cohen representing people with physical disabilities; Tal Kadish-Gekler representing the protest group ‘a park is not a storehouse’; Dr. Arel Buczinski of the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and 17 year old Gal Yosef, who chairs the National Student Council.
The four, together with other marchers shared their manifold grievances with the president and voiced their strong opposition to the election campaigns of the various political parties and the vengeful incitement which characterized several of the campaigns.
1:42 p.m. Ta’al Party chairman MK Ahmed Tibi, fourth on the Joint (Arab) List, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “can relax” since he does not seek to be on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but one dealing with economic affairs such as the Finance Committee in order to have in impact on the Arab sector.
“Herzog or Bibi [Netanyahu's nickname] will not choose what positions we will have in the next Knesset, it depends on the voters and the number of mandates the Joint List gets,” said Tibi.
Asked about Joint List head Ayman Odeh’s comments to the Post on Monday, where he did not rule out recommending Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to form the next government, saying such a decision would only come after serious talks.
1:35 p.m. "The Right-wing controlled government is in danger," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
"Arab voters are going to the vote in droves. The Left-wing organizations are bringing them to the polling stations in buses," Netanyahu wrote.
Netanyahu implored voters to go vote Likud and to bring their family and friends in order to close the gap with the Labor (Zionist Union).
12:56 p.m. Voter turnout as of 12:00 noon was 26.5% of eligible voters, the Central Elections Committee reported. The figure was similar to the turnout percentage in the 2013 election at the same time.
12:33 p.m. Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said the high voter turnout rate is "good for the nation and good for Israel."
11:45 p.m. Voter turnout as of 10:00 on Tuesday was 13.7% representing 757,880 voters in 9,100 polling stations.
Turnout was 2.7% higher compared to the same time in the 2013 election, the Israel Elections Authority said.
As of 11:00 a.m. 10% of Israeli Arabs voted as opposed to only 3% at this time in the last election, according to the Arab Joint List party.
11:26 a.m. "Today we have an opportunity to bring about a revolution and to end six bad years of Right-wing governments and bring hope and sanity back to the state of Israel," head of Meretz Zehava Gal-On said after she voted in Petah Tikva.
Gal-On addressed the undecided voters saying it was in their hands whether Israel would receive a Knesset without Meretz or if there would be a government of hope and justice that included Meretz.
11: 08 a.m. According to the chairwoman of the Central Elections Committee, Orly Adas, as of 9 a.m., two hours after the ballots opened, voter turnout was 7.4%.
11:05 a.m. Former President Shimon Peres, who lives in Tel Aviv, specially came to Jerusalem to vote at the School for the Arts.
Peres arrived slightly ahead of schedule and entered through a side door after one of his security guards was satisfied that there was no cause for concern.
This was the fourth time that Peres was voting at the School for the Arts. In addition to two previous Knesset elections, he also voted in the last Jerusalem municipal elections.
Addressing the media Peres said that there have been so many attacks against Israeli democracy, that the elections were a means of demonstrating Israel’s democratic process.
“I and most other Israelis care about Israel’s image and we care about democracy in our country,” he said. “Many people are watching the process of democracy in Israel and I call on everyone to contribute to an understanding by the world that Israelis care and that they prove this by voting.”
10:37 a.m. Head of Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman called on voters on Tuesday to vote for any Zionist party from Meretz on the Left to Bayit Yehudi on the Right.
"It doesn't matter if it Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu or Bayit Yehudi. The main thing is to go out and vote for a Zionist party because it is important to preserve the Jewish and Zionist character of the state of Israel," Liberman said.
10:17 a.m. On her official Facebook page Tzipi Livni said that she did not hesitate when voting because she believed that her vote was one of many that reflected "the hope and expectation that all votes for the Zionist Union represented ."
Livini added that the election period was difficult for her, suggesting that figures from other parties had sown a lot of "dramatics, lies, political spin, chauvinism, hatred and incitement but with little substance."
The Zionist Party's co-chair reiterate her party's adherence to the principles of protecting a Zionist state, a Jewish and Democratic state that is united, socially just and that promises freedom of expression.
Taking one final jab at the sitting prime minister, Livni reminded voters that " if you want Bibi to get out of the prime minister's office, vote for the Zionist Union."
10:00 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party admitted to forging a recording of Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon promising to support Netanyahu, according to a Kulanu spokesman.
The party distributed the recording to potential voters on Monday evening, but Central Elections Committee Judge Salim Joubran ordered the group to halt using the recording at Kulanu's request.
Kahlon called the recording "criminal" and asked Joubran to open a criminal investigation into it.
"We are pleased that Judge Joubran stopped the Likud from continuing to distribute this untruthful recording," the party said. "It is sad that the LIkud party, in a moment of desperation, chooses to deceive the public."
Joubran fined the Likud NIS 20,000 over the forged recording.
9:49 a.m. "We are here to fight for the State of Israel," said Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, speaking at the ballot beside his wife after casting his vote in Tel Aviv.
"There is a chance that instead of having a good government that will bring hope to the State of Israel, we will end up with the "Bujie" party and the Haredis who will sell all the Israeli people's assets."
"They will return the budget to the yeshivas, will cancel equality of burden and will arrive at a situation in which public funds will be taken from daily housing , single mothers, initiatives to decrease overcrowding in the classroom," Lapid added.
9:00 a.m. "Today is a celebration of democracy," Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday as he voted near his home in Tel Aviv.
"The nation will decide who its leaders will be. The elections are about hope. Whoever wants despair and disapointement should vote for Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] but those who want hope and change should vote for me," Herzog said.
8:30 a.m. Casting a ballot for the Knesset for the 18th time, President Reuven Rivlin called on all Israelis on Tuesday morning to vote and “decide the state’s future each according to one’s world view.”
Entering the gymnasium of Jerusalem’s Yefe Nof Elementary School a
few blocks from where he and his wife Nechama have lived for decades,
the president said voting was really “mandatory” and that the citizenry
should “take your fate in your hands.” Arriving at 8 a.m., they were among the first residents of the neighborhood to vote.
7:27 a.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to form a nationalist government.
As the voting booths opened for Election Day, Netanyahu posted a notice on his Facebook page pledging to first invite Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett into his coalition.
Netanyahu reiterated that he has no plans to form a unity government with the Zionist Union.
7:11 a.m. Nearly six million voters will be eligible to cast ballots in more than 10,000 polling stations across the country Tuesday in an election that is expected to attract the highest voter turnout since 1999.
Until that race, voter turnouts regularly approached 80 percent.
Since then, they have not hit 70%. But the closeness of the race – combined with boosted resources aimed at getting out the vote – are expected to significantly increase turnout.
Exit polls will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Tuesday on the three television networks, but official results will not be presented to President Reuven Rivlin until March 25. Formal consultations on forming a new government will begin next week, but Rivlin will receive calls before then in an effort to build a stable coalition as soon as possible.
Internal polls taken Sunday by the Zionist Union, the Likud and Bayit Yehudi all found that the race had tightened over the last few days, because the Likud had taken seats away from Bayit Yehudi voters and undecided voters on the Right.
04:10 a.m. After picking up requisite vouchers by Monday, many Israelis will ride public transportation free of charge on Tuesday to and from polling stations located more than 20 kilometers away from their residences.
Through Monday, the Central Election Committee issued vouchers at Israel Post Office branches, and on Tuesday, voucher holders can redeem tickets with their vouchers at Israel Railway stations and central bus stations around the country.
Those traveling on public transportation on Tuesday should expect an array of schedule changes throughout Election Day. From morning through 9 p.m., trains will depart once an hour, on a cyclical schedule, with trains resuming their normal weekday schedules at approximately 9 p.m., Israel Railways said. Passengers can check the company's website, rail.co.il, for a list of the exact times trains will pass through each station during the day.
Egged, meanwhile, stressed that election day bus schedules are subject to changes, and that customers should remain updated by visiting the company's website at egged.co.il or calling the customer service center at *2800. (Sharon Udasin)
Monday
23:20 p.m. Fair, warm weather expected for Election Day as Israelis head out to the polls on Tuesday, they can expect pleasant weather, with fair to partly cloudy skies and a slight rise in temperatures, the Israel Meteorological Service forecasted.
21:26 p.m. Joint (Arab) List head Ayman Odeh told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday evening that he does not rule out recommending Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to form the next government, saying that such a decision would only come after serious talks.
“We will for sure sit and listen to Herzog” and make known our position on promoting equality and improving all of Israeli society, said Odeh, adding, “But we cannot join the coalition.”
20:21 p.m. The Likud party slammed Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni following the report that Livni would not share the rotation for prime minister with her co-leader should they win the general election.
"Tzipi [Tzipi Livni] and Boujie [Isaac Herzog's] wavering is a cynical move that is meant to increase the gap between the Zionist Union party and the Likud which would ensure an extreme left-wing government with the cooperation of the Joint Arab List and the parties on the left.
The Likud said the move represents how a future left-wing government would respond to pressure on the Palestinian issue.
"As they surrendered with this move in response the polls, so they will surrender to international pressure and they will make concessions and retreat," the Likud said in a statement.
20:14 p.m. Leader of the Zionist Union party Isaac Herzog told Channel 2 that the alliance between him and his co-leader Tzipi Livni was as strong as ever.
He said that Livni had said in the past that she was prepared to give up the rotation if it hurt efforts to form a coalition.
20:05 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 2 following the news that Tzipi Livni was willing to give up the rotation for prime minister with her co-leader Isaac Herzog that the move proved that the two leaders were panicking and could not handle pressure.
19:57 p.m. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett says Livni's willingness to give up the rotation is a sign Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form a unity coalition.
19:50 p.m. Zionist Union co-leader Tzipi Livni is prepared to forgo the rotation agreement with fellow co-leader Isaac Herzog if it will help in negotiations to form a coalition after Tuesday's election, Channel 2 reported on Monday.
According to the deal, which saw Livni bring her Hatnua faction into the Labor party to form the Zionist Union, she and Herzog would split the term, with each serving two years as prime minister should the party form the next coalition.
19:28 p.m. Palestinians from across the political spectrum said Monday that they were not pinning any hopes on the general elections in Israel, mainly because they do not see a difference between the two major powers, Likud and Labor (Zionist Union).
Although the Palestinian Authority’s official stance has been that the elections are an internal Israeli affair, some officials in Ramallah expressed hope that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party would lose the vote.
18:45 p.m. Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, the leader of the rebel haredi group known as the Jerusalem Faction, issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not be voting in the upcoming election.
Although no clear instructions were given by the rabbi to loyalists of the Jerusalem Faction as to whom to vote for, Auerbach’s message certainly means that his supporters will not be voting for United Torah Judaism, the political party from where the renegade camp originated.
Auerbach, 84, and the Jerusalem Faction command as many as 30,000 votes, approaching one Knesset seat, but are engaged in a long-running feud with Degel Hatorah, the non-hassidic bloc of the UTJ.
5:42 p.m. Meretz focused its efforts on making sure the party doesn't slip below the 3.25 percent electoral threshold as Election Day approached. Party chairwoman Zehava Gal-On pleaded with Meretz voters to stay with the party, in a video she on Facebook, stating that "the strategic vote is the one that is in your heart."
"Don't give in to the false, dangerous spin that says that the head of the largest party will form the next government," she added. "That is a lie. That is an attempt to steal votes from Meretz. The truth is that the president tasks the person who receives the most recommendations with forming the government, not the head of the largest party. That's the law in Israel."
5:20 p.m. Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beytenu chairman, Avigdor Liberman, made a visit this afternoon to Moshav Nativ Ha'asara where he spoke at the site of an excavated tunnel built by Hamas terrorists. Liberman said that if he were defense minister, Hamas members would not be able to reconstruct tunnel networks. In addition, he also assured residents living near the Gaza Strip and in the South that the state is committed to their safety, and as defense minister he would make sure that the next round of fighting against Hamas will be the last.
4:17 p.m. Leader of the Kulanu party Moshe Kahlon was trying to rally support among undecided voters in a telephone blitz from his party's headquarters in Lod on Monday.
"Only a strong Kulanu can bring about changes that will lower the cost of living, solve the housing crisis and close the social gaps," Kahlon said on Monday.
4:15 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a neighborhood located beyond the green line he helped found as the backdrop on Monday for an election eve bid to win back right-wing votes. "The choice is symbolic: the Likud led by me, that will continue to stand firmly for (Israel's) vital interests, compared with a left-wing government ... ready to accept any dictate," he said in a campaign speech located in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood.
3:38 p.m. An internal Likud poll has shown for the first time that a majority of Israelis do not believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, a Likud source said Monday. On March 9, the Likud's data showed that 62.3% thought that Netanyahu would form the coalition and 19.9 % thought that Zionist Union leaders Issac Herzog and Tzipi Livni would form the government. On Monday, for the first time, the number believing Netanyahu would form the government fell to 49.6 %, while 30.4 % thought Herzog would form the coalition. It marked the first time since the election campaign began that the number dipped below 50 percent. The polls are taken by McLaughlin and associates, the American Republican strategist working for the Netanyahu campaign.
2:50 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Likud campaign headquarters in Or Yehuda. "There is still a gap between Likud and Labor. We can still bridge that gap. The way to do it is for the entire nationalist camp to vote [Likud] ... Tzipi and Buji would build a government with the Arab list, whose secretary-general said Hamas is not a terror group. The way to avoid that is to vote [Likud]."
2:15 p.m. Yahad leader Eli Yishai sent a letter of reconciliation to Shas leader Arye Deri Monday after having challenged Shas for the ultra-Orthodox vote. "The time has come to work together and to end the disagreement," Yishai wrote in the letter, calling on Deri to work together with Yahad in the run-up to Tuesday's election.
1:58 p.m. Bayit Yehudi officials confirmed on Monday that internal polling showed the party dropping to a single-digit number from last week's polls giving it an average of 11.8, shrinking the gap between Likud and Zionist Union. MK Ayelet Shaked wrote on Facebook Monday that "24 [for Likud] and 12 [for Bayit Yehudi] are 36 seats loyal to the Land of Israel, but 27 seats for Likud and nine for Bayit Yehudi, God forbid, means that there won't be a change in the Justice Ministry, that Naftali Bennett will be the head of a faction in the opposition, that the Land of Israel will be left at the mercy of [former Shin Bet director and current Likud candidate] Avi Dichter."
12:20 p.m. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said during a campaign trip to the North that "in less than 24 hours we will go to the polls and already the corruption is back. They are giving away public money wholesale, trying to cancel equal service for all. Both Bibi and Buji will give the money back to the yeshivot."
11:55 a.m. The Likud party responded to former prime minister Ehud Barak's endorsement of Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog for prime minister. "The last time they brought about the second Intifada and buses blowing up in the heart of our cities. This time, they are again using left-wing organizations with millions of dollars flowing from abroad in order to bring up the Arab vote turnout. The only way to stop it is by having more votes to Likud."
10:11 a.m. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak put his support behind Zionist Union's Isaac Herzog. In a statement, Barak, who also served as defense minister and IDF chief of staff, said that Herzog is a balanced, experienced and responsible person.
9:15 a.m. Police complete security arrangements for Election Day tomorrow across country. Extra officers will patrol areas at 10,000 polling stations, National Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says.
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इसराइल में नेतन्याहू फिर बनेंगे प्रधानमंत्री
- 1 घंटा पहले
इसराइल में प्रधानमंत्री बिन्यामिन नेतन्याहू की लिकुद पार्टी ने ज़ायोनिस्ट यूनियन को हराकर आम चुनाव जीत लिया है.
लिकुद पार्टी को 30 सीटें और 23 प्रतिशत वोट मिला है. नेतन्याहू चौथी बार मुल्क के प्रधानमंत्री बनेंगे.वामपंथी ज़ायोनेस्ट यूनियन को 24 सीटें और कुल 19 प्रतिशत वोट मिले. इसराइली संसद नैसेट में कुल 120 सीटें हैं.
नेतन्याहू का दल अब दक्षिणपंथी विचारधारा के दूसरे दलों के साथ मिलकर सरकार बनाएगा.
संवाददाता का कहना है कि इस परिणाम से अमरीका को निराशा होगी क्योंकि वो नेतन्याहू को वहां शांति में बाधा के तौर पर देखता है.
मध्यपूर्व संवाददाता के अनुसार, एक्ज़िट पोल एक बार फ़िर ग़लत साबित हुआ. पिछले कुछ दिनों के चुनाव प्रचार में नेतान्याहू ने दिखाया कि वो अपराजेय राजनेता हैं.
प्रधानमंत्री ने हेरजॉग की ज़ायनेस्ट यूनियन पार्टी के बरक्स, पहले अंतर को कम किया और फिर बराबरी करते हुए अति राष्ट्रवादी इसराइली दक्षिणपंथ की ओर इसे मोड़ दिया.
तनाव बढ़ेगा?
उन्होंने कई ऐसे वादे किए कि अगर वो प्रधानमंत्री बनते हैं तो अमरीका और यूरोप के साथ इसरायल के संबंध और ख़राब होंगे.
उन्होंने कब्जे वाले क्षेत्र में हज़ारों नए घर बनाने का वादा किया है और कहा है कि वो कभी भी फ़लस्तीन को राष्ट्र नहीं बनने देंगे.
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