Netanyahu hails ‘a great victory for our people,’ though Herzog in no hurry to concede

Yachad, Shas bicker over radio stations

Eli Yishai’s Yachad party filed a complaint with the Central Elections Committee against ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Chai, while Shas filed its own complaint against the Kol Berama radio station.

Aryeh Deri all smiles on December 30, 2014, after his resignation was rejected. (photo credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Eli Yishai’s call to Shas for a truce yesterday fell on deaf ears, evidently, as the few reports of irregularities involved mainly activists of these two parties.

Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Salim Joubran issued restraining orders to both radio stations mandating that they refrain from broadcasting election material, even as he noted that he was not sure broadcasts on Tuesday violated the prohibition against electioneering on Election Day.

“I listened to the programming of Kol Chai radio and did not hear material that constituted electioneering,” Joubran wrote. Regarding Shas’s claim, Joubran again did not say electioneering material was aired but issued the restraining order “for the possibility it may be so.”

Shas MK Eli Yishai, December 8, 2014 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Kol Berama was initially established under sponsorship from Shas, when Ariel Atias served as communications minister. But Shas has claimed the station is biased against the party since Yachad splintered from Shas. Zvi Amar, the owner of Kol Berama, is an associate of Yishai as well as of Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the spiritual leader of Yachad, NRG reports.

Bedouin radio calls for liberation of Gaza

Radio stations in Tel Sheva and Rahat, two Bedouin communities in the Negev, call on residents of the area to vote for the Joint (Arab) List.

There are 93,000 eligible voters in Rahat and Tel Sheva.

More disconcertingly, the stations also air songs calling for the liberation of “Palestine,” and slogans like “We have beaten the Zionist; we will raise arms to liberate the land of Gaza,” Israel Radio reports.

Bennett fears a fall to single digits

Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett is worried that his party may end up with Knesset seats in the single digits.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home party, casts his vote in general elections in in Ra’anana, March 17, 2015. (photo credit: Flash90)

Speaking to Israel National News, Bennett says, “I returned from Holon, Bat Yam, Beersheba, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and now I’m headed for Jerusalem – the regional branches give us reports and the situation is not very good.

“There is a massive siphoning of votes from Jewish Home to Likud, including in the heart of hearts of religious Zionism — a feeling like Likud is trying to crush us,” Bennett says.

“I think this will be a great mistake since a large Likud with a small Jewish Home is a very dangerous thing, and has led to the disengagement, the Hebron agreement and the Bar-Ilan speech,” Bennett says.

The Jewish Home leader called on the public not to vote strategically: “I call on the public to vote from the heart, not do these calculations, because in the end it will cause us great damage.

“I feel there are a lot of votes moving from Jewish Home to Likud. Likud is anyway in very good shape and what matters is the number of people who recommend to the president” who should form the next coalition, he adds.

“We mustn’t become a single-digit number [of seats in the Knesset]. I am optimistic because there are still many hours left,” Bennett concludes.

Turnout by 4 p.m. at 45.4%

45.4% of eligible voters cast their ballots by 4 p.m., slightly less than the 46.6% measured by 4 p.m. during the 2013 election.

Turnout among IDF soldiers is nearly 3% higher for this time of day.

No evidence of high Arab turnout

According to Ynet and Channel 2, there is no indication that turnout in Arab communities is significantly higher than in past elections.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement earlier Tuesday warning right-wing voters that Arab turnout was very high.

“We’re worried about high turnout in the Arab sector,” a Likud campaign statement said. “Arab voters are heading en masse to the voting booth,” it warned.

The statement drew condemnation from the left and center, with accusations of racism behind the warning of Arab turnout.

On Tuesday afternoon, Netanyahu’s campaign issued a clarification. “What’s illegitimate is not Arabs voting as such, but the huge funds from overseas from leftist NGOs and foreign governments bringing them en masse to the polling stations in an organized fashion — and thus warping the actual wishes of the electorate of Israel’s citizens writ large in favor of the left.”

‘Turnout in Arab sector not so good’

Our Arab affairs reporter, Elhanan Miller, tours Arab communities in northern Israel on Election Day.

“Turnout in the Arab sector is not so good,” said councillor Rawan Abu Leil, 21, from the village of Ein Mahel. “We’re encouraging people to vote, no matter for what party.״

At the entrance to Nazareth, a group belonging to the Zionist youth movement Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed hold up a sign reading ‘I vote, therefore I exist.’ March 17, 2015. (Elhanan Miller)

Shas sticks with supernatural campaign

The Shas campaign isn’t holding back. It’s pushing its greatest political asset, its followers spiritual world, to the hilt on Election Day.

We’ve already reported on the business-card-sized slips that purport to quote the party’s deceased founder and spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef promising that anyone who votes Shas is guaranteed entrance into heaven.

This afternoon, voters began reporting receiving text messages containing the following message:

Maran [our master] the Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: “I do not forgive anyone who does not vote Shas, neither in this world nor in the next.”

Online betting sites favor Netanyahu for PM

Online betting sites show a distinctly pro-Netanyahu tilt, though the margins vary widely, according to a list compiled by Channel 2 television news.

Bettors on the Predictit site favor Netanyahu by 56 percent to 44, on the Hypermind site by 67% to 33%, and on the Predictwise predictions site by an even steeper 80% to 20%.

Election Committee bars PM’s press conference

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls a press conference for 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, just four hours before polls close on Election Day.

But the Yesh Atid and Zionist Union parties appeal to Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, who heads the Central Election Committee, to forbid the press conference.

Campaigning is forbidden on Election Day itself, and Joubran rules that a live press conference would constitute a campaign ad by default.

Likud has until 6:30 p.m. to appeal Joubran’s decision.

Far-right Yishai vows a vote for him helps PM

Eli Yishai, chairman of the far-right Yachad party, urged voters to help save his party from disappearing below the electoral threshold in the final hours of Election Day on Tuesday.

“The entire right carries the Yachad party on its shoulders. Help us ensure victory for [Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Yishai said in a statement.

While Netanyahu has spent the day frantically calling on right-wing voters to vote for his Likud party, which has fallen behind the center-left Zionist Union in the last published polls on Friday, Yishai insisted that only a vote for Yachad would ensure Likud victory.

“You have to understand,” Yishai told potential voters, “that without a strong Yachad Netanyahu won’t have a majority [of recommendations] to the president,” who, after elections, chooses which party leader to task with forming a coalition

Voter turnout hits 54.6% at 6 p.m.

Turnout at 6 p.m. hits 54.6 percent of eligible voters, 0.9 points below the number in 2013 at that hour.

Polls close throughout the country at 10 p.m.

In Internet video, PM blasts broadcast restrictions

“All day politicians have been speaking in the media,” Netanyahu protests.

Netanyahu had convened a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, but Israeli media was forbidden from broadcasting his appearance. Under Israeli election law, electioneering is not allowed on Election Day.

Netanyahu protests that left-wing politicians have been appearing in the media for much of the day.

“Tzipi [Livni], Boujie [Herzog], Yair [Lapid], representatives of the left, spoke in every possible studio and conducted flagrant electioneering,” he charges at the press conference, which was not broadcast in Israeli media, but a video was uploaded to Netanyahu’s Facebook page.

“The ‘Just not Bibi’ party doesn’t stop speaking in the media without anyone disturbing them. The only one they decided to prohibit from speaking in the media is me, the Likud prime minister,” he charges in the most direct accusation leveled by the prime minister against Central Election Committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, who made the decision to nix the broadcast.

“No one will shut us up,” he vows. “In a democratic state, even a Likud prime minister has the right to say his piece.”

Joubran himself has called for changing Israeli election law to lift or significantly ease the restrictions against electioneering, and has enforced the law relatively lightly over the course of the campaign. He has not initiated any cancellations of media appearances himself, but has enforced them when competing parties appealed against them. In the case of Netanyahu’s Tuesday press conference, Joubran responded to appeals from Yesh Atid and Zionist Union against the conference.

Joubran also forbade the airing of a Zionist Union press conference this afternoon.

Likud is losing, warns Netanyahu

The ruling Likud party is losing the election, Netanyahu warns.

In a press statement uploaded to his Facebook page — electioneering is forbidden in Israel’s formal media outlets on Election Day — Netanyahu paints a dire picture meant to mobilize right-wing voters to the polls.

“We’re in a fateful campaign. There is still a meaningful gap between Labor and Likud. The only way to shrink the gap is to go to the ballot box and vote ‘Mahal,'” Netanyahu says, a reference to the letter-based symbols on Likud’s election slip.

Netanyahu blames foreign government and left-wing NGOs for the left’s improved showing in this election.

“The gap between Labor and Likud is based primarily on foreign funds that flow in vast quantities to leftist NGOs. Its purpose is to replace a Likud government headed by me with a left government supported by the Arab list,” he says

Ayman Odeh, chair of the Arab Joint List, figures large in Netanyahu’s warning to the right.

“Ayman Odeh, who supports [Zionist Union leader Isaac] Herzog, has already said not only that I must be replaced, but that I should be put in prison for defending the citizens of Israel and the lives of IDF soldiers [during last summer’s Gaza war]…. A left government that depends on such a list will surrender at every step, on Jerusalem, the 1967 lines, on everything,” Netanyahu rails, “and therefore there’s an immense effort of leftist NGOs to mobilize voters from the left bloc, primarily in the Arab sector, and in areas where leftists vote.”

Netanyahu’s warnings of high Arab turnout have been roundly condemned by the left and center earlier throughout the day. He addresses the criticism in his statement.

“I want to clarify: there is nothing illegitimate with citizens voting, Jewish or Arab, as they see fit. What is not legitimate is the funding, the fact that money comes from abroad from NGOs and foreign governments, brings them en masse to the ballot box in an organized fashion, in favor of the left, gives undue power to the extremist Arab list, and weakens the right bloc in such a way that we will be unable to build a government — despite the fact that most citizens of Israel support the national camp and support me as the prime minister from Likud.”

Change is coming, exults Labor MK Shaffir

Zionist Union MK Stav Shaffir sounds a decidedly optimistic tone.

“We feel the change in every ballot box that we visit, and mainly in the frightened responses of Likud,” Shaffir says.

Netanyahu has warned multiple times in recent days that his Likud party was falling behind Zionist Union and could lose the election.

“Netanyahu has been in a frightful panic over the looming moment in which he will have to leave his seat, and is not above any measure or any lie or fear-mongering” to prevent that, she charges.

She slams Netanyahu’s statement earlier today in which the PM warned his supporters that Arab turnout was unexpectedly high. “A prime minister who comes out against voting in democratic elections — who has heard of such a thing?”

Arab turnout 12 points behind Jewish – report

Arab turnout as of 6 p.m. reaches 45%, according to Channel 2, over nine points behind the overall turnout — and some 12 points behind Jewish turnout.

Arab turnout, or warnings against it, form the main message on the right on Election Day.

Foreign funding and “leftist NGOs” are driving high Arab turnout in order to topple Likud, Netanyahu has warned multiple times today.

Dramatic election photos from Reuters

Reuters is outdoing itself with stunning photos of Israelis voting on Tuesday.

Great series of #Israel election pictures from @reuterspix pic.twitter.com/06NipmlFbC

— Luke Baker (@LukeReuters) March 17, 2015

Voter fraud reports trickle in

At least 51 police investigations are open today over suspicions of voter fraud.

The cases include impersonating other voters, falsifying ballots and stealing party slips.

Out of nearly 800 fraud accusations made to police today, one suspect is already under arrest and 23 are being held for investigation.

In Safed, a 24-year-old resident arrives at the polling booth and discovers he is already listed as having voted.

In Umm al-Fahm, one senior polling station coordinator is arrested after he is allegedly seen placing multiple envelopes into the ballot box.

Voter turnout reaches 65.7% at 8 p.m.

Voter turnout reaches 65.7% at 8 p.m., two hours before polls close in the large cities.

Polls already closed in small towns and villages at 7 p.m.

The figure marks an uptick of 2 percentage points from the same hour on Election Day in 2013, and in fact is higher than at the same hour in any election since 1999.

Jewish Home sees itself falling below 10 seats

Leaks from the Jewish Home party today suggest that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign to pull voters from his right flank may be working.

The party, which polled at 12 seats and more in the final polls of the election published last Friday, is at risk of dropping below 10 seats.

“We must not let religious Zionism fall,” warns the party’s leader Naftali Bennett.

Bennett chastises Netanyahu’s campaign to draw voters from his party, saying it risked shrinking “the size of the bloc. I hope in the two hours left that people go and vote,” he concludes.

The publication of polls is not allowed, but parties are allowed to conduct them. It is not clear if the warnings flowing from Jewish Home are based on actual polling data or not.

Results may not be known till Friday — Knesset speaker

Knesset speaker and Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein says we won’t know the results of today’s election before Friday, because “it’s very close.”

It won’t be clear until the final official count is published Thursday which parties have even passed the 3.25% electoral threshold, he adds.

“There was no real discussion of the issues,” Edelstein laments of the campaign.

— Raphael Ahren

Yesh Atid revels in avoiding ‘us or them’ talk

It’s still empty at Hangar 11 in the Tel Aviv Port, where Yesh Atid will be gathering at 10 p.m., and there’s a faint scent of beer from the parties that are held here most nights.

Yet Yair Zivan, who handles international media for the centrist party, says he’s sure the party atmosphere will prevail tonight.

“We had 15,000 activists [canvassing] across the country today, from north to south,” Zivan says. “There was almost no voting booth without someone there, we’ve spoken to hundreds of thousands of people.”

Now, in the final moments before the polls close, activists are munching on McDonald’s fries and nervously smoking cigarettes.

“We’ve run the most positive campaign of all the parties, with a real focus on policy,” Zivan says. “We’re trying to raise the level of conversation past ‘us or them,’ and whatever happens tonight, Yesh Atid is a party for the long term.”

— Jessica Steinberg

Kingmaker Kahlon revels in selfies

Moshe Kahlon, head of the Kulanu party, makes his last campaign stop before the polls close.

“Our people are gaining energy,” the candidate says at the Rogazin-Bialik Campus in south Tel Aviv. “As time goes by they are getting stronger.”

Moshe Kahlon poses with volunteers of his Kulanu party in South Tel Aviv on Mar. 17, 2015. Kahlon traveled up and down Israel’s coast, rallying support before the polls close. (photo credit: Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

Volunteers and voters swarm around the smiling but tired politician, hoping for the latest in election day fashion: a politician-accompanied selfie.

“I love it,” Kahlon says of the constant picture-taking, “I don’t know about others, but I enjoy it.”

Kahlon obliges his supporters as his handlers try in vain to rush him along. The center-right party head even takes the time to have a jocular conversation with a volunteer from the staunchly left Meretz party.

“That’s why I’m in public life,” he says.

Kahlon, who was a part of the Likud party until two years ago, is expected to draw right-wing support away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For this reason Kahlon’s centrist party is considered pivotal in the elections, and he is seen as something of a kingmaker.

On Saturday and Sunday, Netanyahu said in several interviews that he would make Kahlon finance minister, in a bid to woo the Kulanu head to his side.

Moshe Kahlon, the Kulanu party leader, takes photographs with supporters before the polls close in South Tel Aviv on Mar. 17, 2015. (Photo credit: Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

But Kahlon,a former Likud minister, on Sunday morning rebuffed the advance, saying that Netanyahu’s promise couldn’t be trusted.

Kahlon has thus far refused to recommend either Netanyahu or Zionist Union rival Isaac Herzog for prime minister after the Tuesday vote, a move that would give either candidate an easier chance at forming a coalition.

— Judah Ari Gross

Prisoner turnout reaches 82%

Ballot boxes in Israel’s prisons close at 8 p.m.

Final voter turnout is now reported at 81.74% of Israel’s incarcerated.

27-27 tie for Likud, Zionist Union in Ch. 10 exit poll

Shocking rally for Netanyahu’s Likud in Channel 10 and Channel 2 exit polls.

Channel 10 gives the two parties 27-27, while Channel 2 finds 27-28 in favor of Likud.

Likud rallies, Yachad falls away

The Channel 10 exit poll is as follows:

Zionist Union – 27
Likud – 27
Kulanu – 10
Joint List – 13
Jewish Home – 8
Yesh Atid – 11
Shas – 7
UTJ – 7
Meretz – 5
Yisrael Beytenu – 5

The bottom line: with Kulanu and UTJ, Netanyahu has a right-wing coalition.

Exit polls in graphs

Channel 2 exit poll, March 17, 2015.

Channel 10 exit poll, March 17, 2015.

Channel 1 exit poll, March 17, 2015.

An easy right-wing coalition is within reach

According to the major exit polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is within easy reach of a right-wing coalition.

Likud, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beytenu, Shas — all of which are essentially committed to backing Netanyahu for premier — come to 48 seats.

If Netanyahu entices Kulanu and United Torah Judaism, likely an easy bargain to make, they will help him over the top with 63 seats — according to Channel 2’s poll.

The same coalition reaches 64 seats in both Channel 10’s and Channel 1’s exit polls.

The race is on for claiming the victory

Zionist Union’s Shelly Yachimovich is trying to claim in a Channel 2 interview that there’s still room for a left-wing government, based on the Arab list and Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu.

But the stark fact is Netanyahu’s natural coalition is much larger, according to exit polls.

To seal the consciousness of a Netanyahu victory, Netanyahu has already called Jewish Home’s Naftali Bennett in the last few minutes, and is slated to call Avigdor Liberman in the coming minutes.

The call to Moshe Kahlon could be among his last. Kahlon will take some convincing. His 10-seat showing makes him a decisive factor in the new coalition, and his demand was already clear in the campaign: to be finance minister.

Livni, Herzog meet; no word yet on left’s response

Zionist Union’s two leaders, Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog, are meeting in the minutes following the publication of exit polls. A statement may be imminent.

Netanyahu starts flurry of coalition calls

Netanyahu isn’t waiting to let anyone undermine his almost certain victory.

In the minutes following the publication of exit polls, he has been calling leaders of Jewish Home, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu, and a meeting is being arranged with Shas’s Aryeh Deri, according to reports.

UTJ tells Netanyahu to wait till tomorrow

United Torah Judaism is playing coy with Netanyahu as he tries to quickly assemble a coalition following the publication of exit polls.

Their future in the coalition will be decided tomorrow by the party’s Council of Torah Sages, the party reportedly told the Likud.

Uncertainty at Zionist Union HQ

Loud music pumps through the sparsely filled stadium in Tel Aviv where Zionist Union set up its election night headquarters as the first exit polls are shown on the screen.

The equivocal results, showing a near even result, spark small circles of celebration and plenty of uncertainty among supporters.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a Reform Jewish Leader who placed low on the party list, tells The Times of Israel that a tie “still holds the dynamics of change” and that he believes Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog will be asked to assemble the next government.

— Mitch Ginsburg

Kulanu supporters hail results

As the television exit polls come, a reserved enthusiasm sweeps through the small crowd at the Kulanu party’s rally in northern Tel Aviv.

Michael Oren, number four on the list, watches the screens as the television exit polls are announced, eyes flitting between the channels to see how his party did.

And then a cheer ripples through the small crowd gathered in support of leader Moshe Kahlon. “Hoo hah! Who’s that coming?! The next finance minister!”

Michael Oren, number four on the Kulanu party’s list, applauds as exit polls show his party is slated to win nine or ten seats in the 20th Knesset on Mar. 17, 2015. (Photo credit: Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

— Judah Ari Gross

Likud supporters celebrate ‘amazing victory’

At Likud campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv, activists celebrate the apparent win.

“It’s an amazing victory,” one party activist says, adding that despite the neck-to-neck results, the right-wing camp won. “There’s no such thing as a left-wing government.”

Despite the feeling of victory, however, cheers of “Bibi, Bibi” last only a few seconds, as the party officials and activists present wait for the entrance of the prime minister.

— Raphael Ahren

Joint List chief confident party will win 14 seats

Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab Joint List, comments in Nazareth headquarters on exit polls:

“I’m confident we will reach 14 seats in the final tally,” he says. “I thank [Benjamin] Netanyahu for causing Arabs to vote by using them to threaten the public”

The prime minister had rallied voters hours before the polls closed by warning of a high voter turnout among Arabs.

— Elhanan Miller

Bennett sounds upbeat tone despite fall to 8 seats

Jewish Home’s Naftali Bennett sounded a decidedly upbeat tone, despite the party’s collapse in the exit polls. From a high of 17 seats in polls a couple of months ago, the party took just 8 seats in exit polls today.

“This is a great night for the people of Israel,” Bennett insisted to Channel 2. “The right-wing camp won.”

“I’m very glad the national camp won. The people chose right very clearly,” affirms the party’s number two, Ayelet Shaked.

Meretz head urges no unity government

Zahava Gal-on insists Zionist Union should not join a unity government with Netanyahu.

Arab Joint List is third-largest in polls

The Arab Joint List came in third place in two of three exit polls, with 13 seats. It tied Yesh Atid at 12 in Channel 1’s poll.

The big question for the new Arab configuration is whether a slate composed of Palestinian nationalists, Muslim movements and atheist socialists can hold together for very long in the new Knesset.

Pie chart of Knesset seats based on exit polls

A projected breakdown of Knesset seats based on an average of TV exit polls published Tuesday night, March 17, 2015

Yesh Atid’s 12 seats ‘an accomplishment,’ says MK

MK Micky Levy is Yesh Atid’s first elected official to arrive at the party’s election night headquarters at Hangar 11 in the Tel Aviv Port. At  number 11 on a list that got 12 seats in exit polls, the former head of the Jerusalem Police appears to have made it into another Knesset.

“It’s an accomplishment, because they were talking about just seven seats a few months ago,” says Levy.

When asked how he felt about being in the opposition, Levy says he isn’t concerned.

“I have no problem being in the opposition. I can fight with a knife in my teeth.”

— Jessica Steinberg

‘The religious Zionists carried the day,’ says Bennett

Naftali Bennett hints that he is proud of national-religious voters who abandoned him for Netanyahu, thus securing Netanyahu’s victory over Herzog.

“I was asked if I’m disappointed in our public, in the national-religious public,” Naftali Bennett tells his supporters in a post-exit poll speech, after coming in at a disappointing eight seats.

“And I tell you, the opposite. I’m proud of religious Zionism, because it’s a truly ideological public. It is called to settlement, and it comes through. It is called to national and social missions, and it comes through. This time it was called to a political mission, and it came through big time. Our public, as is its wont, took hold of the stretcher and carried the day.”

“The eternal people isn’t afraid of a long road,” he insists. “We’re running long distance. We are not afraid, and we don’t lower our heads. We raise our heads higher and higher. We love the people of Israel, the land of Israel. We, all of us, love the Torah of Israel and the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces,” he says to applause.

Likud supporters celebrate

TEL AVIV — “You’re the bomb,” the popular song with which Israeli pop star Sarit Hadad once famously serenaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a campaign event, blasts through the speakers at Likud’s campaign headquarters.

Thousands of white voting slips with the Likud’s symbol — Machal — are spread out on the floor and the whole event has something of a wedding vibe.

As activists wave blue Likud flags and MKs happily give interviews to the dozens of reporters in the hall, Netanyahu is said to have started making his way to Tel Aviv for his expected victory speech.

Likud supporters at party HQ in Tel Aviv, Tuesday night, March 17, 2015 (photo credit: Raphael Ahren/Times of Israel)

— Raphael Ahren

Kahlon also tells Netanyahu to wait

Moshe Kahlon of Kulanu, like the ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism, tells Netanyahu he will not decide who to support for premier until the final official results are published on Thursday.

He reportedly told the same to Isaac Herzog, who is frantically trying to put together a Netanyahu-blocking coalition that might force a unity government.

Final turnout hits 71.8%, highest since 1999

Final voter turnout rises to 71.8%, according to final Central Election Committee data, higher than in the past five elections. It marks a five-point rise from 2013’s 66.6%.

Race remains a ‘tie,’ insists Yadlin

The Zionist Union’s candidate for defense minister, Amos Yadlin, insists the left and right are “tied” in the wake of tonight’s exit polls.

“I think this is a major achievement for Zionist Union. No poll gave us 27 mandates,” which the party gets in the polls. “I think you have to remember where Labor was three months ago, at 14 mandates, and where it is today.”

“Nothing is finished,” Yadlin insists. “Meretz passed the electoral threshold nicely and Yachad didn’t pass the threshold,” he notes, “so let’s wait for the final results. This is a tie, and the keys are in Moshe Kahlon’s hands,” he concludes.

Arab list chief hails ‘historic moment’

Arab Joint List candidates face the crowd at a post-election event in Umm Al-Fahm, Tuesday, March 17, 2015 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)

UMM AL-FAHM — “We are in a historic moment,” Arab Joint List leader Ayman Odeh tells supporters at the party’s post-election event.

“We have the highest Arab voting rates since 1999,” he adds.

“We will block Netanyahu from forming the government.”

— Elhanan Miller

Likud not yet ruling out unity with Herzog

TEL AVIV — “I don’t believe in a unity government,” future Likud MK Yoav Kish tells The Times of Israel. “I hope Moshe Kahlon will come home and then we’ll have a coalition.”

Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis, however, is not so quick to dismiss the possibility of a joint government with the Zionist Union.

“I can neither exclude nor confirm it,” he tells reporters when asked about this scenario. “We will have to wait for the final result. The votes of the soldiers still need to be counted. I hope they will benefit us, the national camp, and when Benjamin Netanyahu receives the mandate [from President Reuven Rivlin] to build a coalition — then we will start the coalition negotiations.”

— Raphael Ahren

Why Netanyahu likely won the election

Isaac Herzog has no stable coalition in tonight’s exit polls, so Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory is almost complete.

Zionist Union lost the ability to force a unity government. Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition of Likud, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beytenu, Kulanu and the ultra-Orthodox parties come to a majority of 63. The only hope that the Labor party (which leads the Zionist Union list) has to leave the opposition after 14 years is if Netanyahu, Herzog and Kulanu’s Moshe Kahlon (or other party leaders with similar numbers of seats) all want a unity government. Why would Netanyahu share power if he doesn’t have to? And why would Kahlon work toward a unity government in which his own party’s influence would be dramatically diluted?

Herzog’s last hopes lie with the remaining unknowns: the gaps between tonight’s exit poll results and the official results that will be published Thursday; the votes of soldiers, prisoners and diplomats; the vote-sharing agreements that might give Labor another seat or take away one from Likud (or vice versa, of course). If all those go dramatically in Herzog’s favor, a very unlikely scenario, then things might yet be different.

Liberman praises party for surviving

“No other party would have survived this campaign,” Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman tells party supporters tonight. “This wasn’t a political campaign only. We were met with an attempted assassination of an entire political party by forces from outside the political system, from the media,” he charges. “Many forces tried to destroy an entire party, but failed.”

Liberman is referring to a police corruption investigation that embroiled multiple Yisrael Beytenu officials in December.

Asked if he would recommend Netanyahu for premier, Liberman declines to answer.

Netanyahu declares victory

“Against all odds: a great victory for Likud. A major victory for the people of Israel,” exults the PM on Facebook.

Everyone awaits word from Kulanu’s Kahlon

TEL AVIV — Almost an hour and a half after initial exit polls were announced, Kulanu party headquarters remain half-empty, and the enthusiasm feels forced.

“Most of the activists are out in the rest of the country,” a Kahlon party worker says.

Party leader Moshe Kahlon has yet to arrive, and his absence only contributes to the general lethargy.

Kulanu party headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, March 17, 2015 (photo credit: Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

The last surveys announced before Israelis cast their ballots predicted Kulanu would receive nine seats, and exit polls show the party may do slightly better; according to most they will receive 10, making Kahlon kingmaker ahead of coalition talks.

And the atmosphere of the election headquarters reflects that: the upstart party met its expectations, but did not shatter them. Everyone’s happy, but no one’s ecstatic.

So the dozens of party supporters must resort to schadenfreude.

“Channel 2 news is now reporting that Yesh Atid went down to 11 seats from the 13 they originally predicted,” a supporter tells the crowd.

“But we went to ten! It’s only going up!”

— Judah Ari Gross

Yachad enters Knesset in Ch. 1 exit poll

Earlier this evening, all three major exit polls placed the far-right Yachad party firmly below the 3.25% threshold for getting into the Knesset.

In the last few minutes, Channel 1 updated its exit poll to show that Yachad has just barely squeaked into the Knesset.

Rivlin still said to favor unity government

President Reuven Rivlin, according to Haaretz, continues to favor a unity government.

“I am convinced that only a unity government can prevent the rapid disintegration of Israel’s democracy and new elections in the near future,” Rivlin reportedly says.

Election c’tee begins publishing real results

The Central Elections Committee has begun to publish the real vote count on its website.

The results show real votes and percentages, but as of midnight Tuesday only about 80,000 votes have been reported out of an estimated 4.2 million ballots cast.

PA to resume ICC suit with Netanyahu victory

Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat threatens to renew Palestinian efforts to sue Israel in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

“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” all diplomatic efforts, Erekat tells AFP.

36 new MKs among 120 elected lawmakers

A Channel 2 tally concludes that the new Knesset will see 36 brand-new Knesset members, including many in Likud and Kulanu’s entire list except party leader Moshe Kahlon himself.

‘Results aren’t final, I intend to fight to form gov’t,’ says Herzog

Isaac Herzog insists Zionist Union’s fate is not yet sealed by tonight’s exit polls.

“We achieved something extraordinary today,” he tells cheering supporters. “Since the elections of 1992, the election of Yitzhak Rabin, may his memory be blessed, we haven’t achieved such a result. This result enables us to return to power, and since we’re going to wait for the true results — every result right now is an exit poll — everything is still open.”

Herzog says he “spoke today with every relevant party leader. We don’t know the final results because some parties are on the edge of the electoral threshold. I intend to make every effort to put together a socially conscious government for Israel, a good government, a government that returns Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state, a socially aware country that strives for peace with our neighbors. I call on all the relevant factions to unite behind me for a government of reconciliation for Israel.”

He tells supporters: “There won’t be any decisions taken tonight. Everyone can go to sleep. You gave your heart and soul. Thank you.”

‘We will make every effort to form gov’t,’ says Livni

Tzipi Livni follows Herzog at Zionist Union headquarters.

“We commit to the Israeli public to make every effort to establish a government based on our path, a government headed by Herzog,” she promises cheering supporters, “because our path is right, our diplomatic and defense and social path, the path that puts the country in the center and not our own jobs.”

Yesh Atid ‘can no longer be ignored,’ says Lapid

“Yesh Atid is a force that can no longer be ignored in Israeli politics,” party leader Yair Lapid tells supporters tonight.

“There is an understanding in the political system that we’re here to stay for many years. We came to change things. Tomorrow morning we’re going to continue from the point where we were stopped. We will continue to battle the corruption and the extortion, and the politics of division and tribalism where everyone cares only for themselves. Instead, we’ll continue to present a real vision for the country, a vision of an exemplary society whose Judaism is embracing and not divisive, whose economy works for the middle class and the middle class works for the weaker segments in society.”

He adds in a clear reference to his campaign slogan: “We’re here to fight for you, to fight with you. We’re fighting for our country, and we have no intention of giving up.”

Obama can work with whoever wins election, White House says

US President Barack Obama “remains committed to working very closely with the winner of the ongoing elections to cement and further deepen the strong relationship between the United States and Israel, and the president is confident that he can do that with whomever the Israeli people choose.”

So says White House press secretary Josh Earnest in Washington, according to The New York Times.

Netanyahu speech to Likud supporters to begin soon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to deliver his speech to his party supporters imminently.

President’s Office denies Rivlin favors unity government

President Reuven Rivlin’s office denies reports that the president has said he favors a unity government after today’s election.

“All we have said is that we favor the formation of a government as quickly as possible,” a President’s Residence official says.

Netanyahu hints at rejection of unity government

Netanyahu exults in his apparent election victory tonight.

“Against all odds, we achieved a great victory for Likud. We achieved a great victory for our people,” he tells jubilant supporters.

“I’m proud of the people of Israel, that in the moment of truth they knew how to separate the important from the trivial, and to stand for what’s important, for a real defense, a responsible economy, and a socially conscious economy that we’re committed to…. I can tell you with confidence that we stand before diplomatic and defense challenges, and economic and social challenges. We promised to act on the cost of housing, and we’re going to do it.”

He seems to delicately backtrack on some of the rhetoric of the past couple days that warned about Arab turnout and “foreign governments” leading to Likud’s fall.

His next government’s priorities, he says, “are important to every family, every young couple, every soldier, every citizen of Israel, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. You are all important, and you are all important to me.”

And he hints at his rejection of any proposed unity government with Zionist Union.

“And now we must establish a strong, stable government that will take care of the security and welfare of all Israel’s citizens,” he says, sparking fear among Likud members present that he may announce a unity government.

“We don’t want unity!” the activists began to shout, but their fears were soon calmed.

“I phoned all leaders of parties of the national camp [a Hebrew term for the right wing] and called on them to join me to establish a government without delay. Reality doesn’t take a break. The citizens of Israel expect us to form a responsible leadership that will work for them,” he announces.

Kahlon praises party’s ‘historic’ campaign

Moshe Kahlon emphasizes his party’s economic message in his post-election speech.

“This election campaign is historic. This was the first socially aware election campaign since 1977, thanks to Kulanu,” he tells supporters in Givat Olga.

“For this event it was worth establishing a party,” Kahlon asserts.

And he concludes with a direct jab at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security-focused campaign. “They tried to deflect us to the left or right, to IS or Iran, but our lives here are not less important,” Kahlon says.

Election Day ends as nation awaits final results

The election count is continuing into the night. With some 30% of votes counted, Likud is ahead of National Union, and you can follow the count here, but more definitive results should be emerging by morning.

We’re closing today’s dramatic Election Day liveblog. But as ever, the site continues to update 24/7, and we’ll be liveblogging again tomorrow.

Meretz head set to quit if party sinks below 5

Meretz party leader Zahava Gal-on says she’ll resign from her position if the party receives less than five seats.

Right now, Meretz is set to receive four mandates, but the count is ongoing.

Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On. December 25, 2013. (Photo credit: Flash 90)