Israel election — live: Exit polls suggest deadlock despite Netanyahu gaining most seats

Just like Gideon Saar, the ultra-hawkish politician Naftali Bennett, 48, was a former Netanyahu cabinet minister.

The hi-tech millionaire, who runs the right-wing Yamina group, has not ruled out an alliance with the pro-Netanyahu camp once votes are tallied.

Israel’s main political leaders have now cast their ballots, and all encouraged voters to come out to ward against an inconclusive result and possible fifth election. 

After voting in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the 6.5 million registered voters to “vote, vote, vote, vote, vote” calling the occasion a “festival of democracy”. 

He expressed hope that this was “the last election” and on Twitter urged people to vote for his Likud party, saying just an additional two seats in the 120-Knesset for the right-wing party would mean no rotation deal, no further elections and “no Lapid” referencing his chief challenger the centrist politician Yair Lapid. 

For his part, Lapid had earlier vote in Tel Aviv saying that it was a “moment of truth” for Israel which had two possibilities. “Either there is a great future or a government of darkness, racism and homophobia that will take the money of working people and pass it on to non-working people” he said. 

Gideon Saar, the chairman of New Hope, the offshoot and rival to Mr Netanyahu’s Likud, said the elections were a “chance to bring change and break a two year long deadlock”. 

He said only his party could “unite and connect the people” and bring about a better future.

Benny Gantz, the current defence minister who joined a unity government and power-sharing deal with Mr Netanyahu before the alliance bitterly collapsed, struck a more sombre note. He said Israelis “aren’t celebrating, because Israel’s health, economy and society are in a distressing state, and we should have been spared these elections.”

Voting in Rosh HaAyin, he urged people to vote for his centrist Blue and White party which had swept the most seats in the last election but right now is hovering around the threshold of just four seats required to get  into the Knesset.

In Jerusalem, some voters said that while they were frustrated with the political stasis due to the last few rounds of elections and they had concerns Mr Netanyahu’s corruption trial, they did not see anyone else better suited for the job. 

“Netanyahu is the best on security and diplomacy and that’s what Israelis are looking for,” said one longterm Likud voter aged 65 who declined to be named.

“Although I’m sad about the moral issues that have emerged such as corruption charges and civil liberties.”

Others were impressed by the vaccine rollout in Israel which has seen nearly half the population be inoculated far outstripping other countries around the world. It has been key campaign point for Mr Netanyahu, who has dubbed Israel the “vaccination nation”. 

“Israel leads the world in the Covid situation - no other county has opened up like here,” said Eliyahu Amar, 64, a voter in Jerusalem. “There is no one like Netanyahu, no one,” he added.

Gideon Saar was once seen as Benjamin Netanyahu’s heir-apparent.

The former education and interior minister left Likud in December to form his own “New Hope” party, which comprises former Likud politicians similarly keen on removing Mr Netanyahu from office.

Mr Saar has claimed that his old boss has been “running the country for his own personal interest”.

New Hope was doing well in the polls but has slumped in recent months.

In the grips of a pandemic, Israel has taken additional precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus on voting day. 

So far over 829,000 people across the country have been infected with Covid-19 while more than 6000 have died. 

While Israel has been credited with having one of the most effective vaccination programmes, the authorities were taking no chances. 

According to Israeli media, several thousand additional polling stations have been set up in comparison to previous elections to prevent over-crowding. A maximum of only 650 voters are allowed at each polling station.

The state has also deployed shuttles for Covid-19 positive patients to take them to specialised mobile polling booths that have additional protective measures. Those in isolation are permitted to drive to the specialised drive-in polling stations alone, but if voters are too sick to leave the vehicle, a ballot box will be brought to them in their cars. 

Polling booths have also been set up in hospitals allowing the most ill to still participate. There were also reports of polling stations in the airport, to cater for those Israelis flying in to vote. 

Elections officials have warned the results may be delayed as there are an unusually high number of absentee ballots that will be counted over the next few days.

Across the political divide the one unifying fear among voters is the spectre of inconclusive results from Tuesday’s election and a potential unprecedented fifth vote if no ruling coalition can be formed. 

Speaking from Raamona, near Tel Aviv, Michael, 72 said that the polls showed the parties were “neck and neck”. 

“It’s a huge worry. We are stuck if this happens. I am very worried we will go to another election,” he told The Independent.

Michael, who declined to reveal who he was voting for, blamed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for trying to cling onto power and so creating the impasse and would do “whatever he can to make a fifth and even sixth election”.

His comments reflected the other central theme to these elections, that the vote is referendum on Israel’s incumbent and longest-serving premier in the fiercely divided nation. 

“Hopefully we can get rid of Bibi,” he said using Netanyahu’s nickname. 

“The key is to get rid of Bibi, and to be able to manufacture something better for Israel. Nothing is perfect but for me getting rid of Bibi is a priority. There’s a lot I’m not happy about right now but the rest can be worked out later. ”

Pollsters suggest that Yair Lapid, 57, a former finance minister and television presenter, offers the most robust challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid party, which means “There is a Future”, is tipped to come second behind the prime minister’s Likud party.

Yesh Atid will be hoping that voters have not bought into Mr Netanyahu’s new slogan “Vaccination Nation” and his claim that only he could have achieved such a quick vaccine roll-out.

A party needs to gain a minimum of 3.25 per cent of the national vote to enter the Knesset, giving it at least four seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

Some of the smaller parties could struggle to get above this threshold.

Worringly for the anti-Netanyahu bloc, two of the parties in danger of not reaching 3.25 per cent of the vote are opposed to the current prime minister.

Pollster Camil Fuchs told AP that the dovish Meretz party and the centrist Blue and White - part of the last government - are “much more in danger” of not getting enough votes.

The outcome of Tuesday’s election in Israel is set to be extremely close.

Dahlia Scheindlin, a prominent Israeli pollster, told The Independent: “I think the most likely outcome is Netanyahu leading a coalition with a paper-thin margin, either because he manages to peel off a couple of members from the non-Netanyahu parties or he is able to secure a few more seats from the undecided voters.”

Our Middle East correspondent Bel Trew reports:

Polling stations opened in Israel at 7am (5am GMT) this morning and will close at 10pm (8pm GMT) tonight, when exit polls will be released.

The latest polls have indicated another inconclusive election result, raising the possibility of yet another vote in the near future.

Tuesday’s election is Israel’s fourth in two years, after the first two were deadlocked and the national government formed in the third broke down.

Here’s Bel Trew and Natalie Lisbona with more details about the election: