Force of 20,000 to keep voters safe on election day

Twenty thousand police officers, border policemen and volunteers will be on hand to secure polling stations throughout the country on Tuesday, as Israelis cast their ballots for the 19th Knesset.

Official forces will be buttressed by thousands of security guards and election day organizers.

Israel Police operations division chief Nissim Mor told Israel Radio that his men and women were prepared for any disturbances or criminal incidents.

Police will also be monitoring all polling stations from a central situation room that has been set up for the occasion.

Turnout on Tuesday among the 5.6 million eligible voters will likely be between 62% and 68%.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to cruise to victory with his Likud-Beytenu list, but he has not made clear to which parties he will turn in order to form a coalition.

A right-wing bloc composed of the prime minister’s projected Knesset faction along with the Orthodox and smaller nationalist parties could garner between 63 and 69 seats, according to final polls released Friday.

But centrist party leaders Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni have not ruled out the possibility of joining a Netanyahu-led government.