Israelis started voting on Tuesday in an early election that is expected to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a third term in office.
Some 5.66 million Israelis are eligible to vote, with the 10,133 polling stations closing at 10 p.m. (9 pm Brussels). Full results are due by Wednesday morning, opening the way for parties talks to form a coalition government that could take several weeks.
The voters will not only elect the next Prime Minister but also decide the composition of the 19th Knesset , the 120-member Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem.
34 parties are competing in this election. But only about a dozen are likely to actually cross the 2% threshold necessary to win seats.
The next government will be established based on how many seats each party wins, and Israeli President Shimon Peres will appoint the Prime Minister, usually the leader of the party that won the most votes. This person must then form a coalition government with other Knesset-elected parties, and those parties that are not included become the opposition.
The elections in Israel never produced a party with an overall majority. In 2009, the participation was 64,7 %. Election day is a public holiday.
The inaugural plenary session of the new Knesset will take place on February 5.
Netanyahu wrapped up four years of relatively stable reign, in which he pushed the Iranian nuclear threat to the top of the international agenda, deterring terrorism against Israel and keeping its economy afloat despite a worldwide recession.
The latest surveys on Friday suggested nationalist-religious Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Hayeudi (The Jewish Home) may take up to 14 seats, many at the expense of Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu, which was projected to win 32, 10 less than the two parties won in 2009 when they ran separate lists.
Netanyahu's son Yair urged young Israelis not to abandon the old, established Likud.
"Even if there are more trendy parties, there is one party that has a proven record," he said on Tuesday.
Amongst the new parties standing for the first time in an election were Yesh Atid (There is a Future), a centrist group led by former television host Yair Lapid, seen winning 13 seats.
Lapid has not ruled out joining a Netanyahu cabinet, but is pushing hard for ultra-Orthodox Jews to do military service -- a demand fiercely rejected by some allies of the prime minister.
Israel's main opposition party, Labour, led by Shelly Yachimovich, is seen capturing up to 17 seats.
Political sources said Netanyahu, concerned by his apparent fall in popularity, might approach centre-left parties after the vote in an effort to broaden his coalition and present a more « moderate » face to the US and other allies.
"We want Israel to succeed, we vote Likud-Beitenu.The bigger it is, the more Israel will succeed," Netanyahu said after casting his ballot alongside his wife and two sons in a Jerusalem polling station.