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.
Wednesday12:09 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.
Donate For Site it's Free Alert Site To Support Go On Link And Donate After follow Steps which are given on link given: http://kosullaindialtd.blogspot.in/p/donate.html
