Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to galvanise supporters into voting in Israel’s parliamentary election by playing up the prospects of his strongest rival, an ex-general who has pledged clean government, to deny him a fifth term.
Netanyahu, in power consecutively since 2009 after a first term from 1996 to 1999, is fighting for his political survival. He faces possible indictment in three corruption cases in which the right-wing leader has denied any wrongdoing.
Final opinion polls on Friday showed Netanyahu, who heads the Likud party, falling behind his main rival, former military chief Benny Gantz of the Blue and White faction, but with an easier path to form a government.
LIVE BLOG: Israel goes to the polls: Will Netanyahu retain his throne?
Some 2-1/2 hours before polling stations were due to close, Netanyahu tweeted that “data reaching us now” showed Blue and White with a four-seat advantage over Likud in the 120-member parliament.
“Many Likud supporters haven’t voted yet. The hour is late but not too late,” Netanyahu wrote. “I ask all of you to mobilise and bring your families and friends to the ballot box.”
#IsraElex19: Israeli Elections 2019
If he wins, Netanyahu, 69, will achieve a record fifth term and become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister this summer after a contest that will determine whether the man some Israelis hail as “King Bibi” had fallen victim to “Bibi fatigue”.
Israelis were casting ballots for a party’s list of parliamentary candidates. No single party has ever won a ruling majority in parliament in an election in Israel, meaning that coalition-building after the vote, a process that could take weeks, will determine the winner.
Voting ends at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT). TV stations will immediately publish exit polls giving a preliminary indication of the number of Knesset seats parties have won and which leader stands the best chance of piecing together a government.