Israeli election officials report strong turnout in tight race

A divided Israeli electorate went to the polls Tuesday in a vote that largely hinged on sentiment toward embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Soldiers in rumpled uniforms, ultra-Orthodox Jews in long black coats and nose-ringed twentysomethings made their way to polling stations across the country, propelling what was reported by election authorities to be a strong turnout as the vote stretched into the early evening. Election Day was a national holiday, with nearly 6 million people eligible to vote.

Netanyahu, who as head of the conservative Likud party has served as prime minister for the past six years, was lagging in the opinion polls as he faced off against challenger Isaac Herzog, who is leading the center-left Zionist Union.

But under Israel's political system, people vote for party lists, not individuals, so the real result will not be clear-cut even once the ballots are tallied. With the race so closely fought, some said they couldn't make up their minds until they were in the polling booth.

One such voter was Michael Doron, a 46-year-old social worker from the western Jerusalem suburb of Mevaserret Zion. She had intended to back her choice in the last elections -- the centrist, pocketbook-minded party Yesh Atid, led by former Finance Minister Yair Lapid – but made a last-minute switch to the Zionist Union and Herzog.

"Why? Before anything else, we need to get rid of Bibi," she said, using the nickname by which Netanyahu is known to friend and foe alike.

During the day, both sides made last-minute appeals on social media. The Likud party posted a video on Facebook that featured Netanyahu warning that "Arab voters are moving en masse to the polling places" – referring to indications of a strong turnout among Israel's Arab minority after the formation of a political alliance meant to give them more clout in the Knesset.

That drew a sharp rebuke from the Zionist Union, with senior member Shelly Yacimovich replying on Twitter: "Just picture a warning that begins … 'Black voters are moving en masse to the polling places.'"

No single political party has ever captured a majority of the 120 seats in the Knesset, or parliament. So the popular vote is only the first step in the painstaking process of assembling a governing coalition. Usually the head of the biggest vote-getting party is tapped to do so, but not always.

Opinion polls gave the Zionist Union an edge going into Tuesday's vote, but even if it wins the largest number of seats, the Likud has more potential allies among right-wing and nationalist parties. Thus, Netanyahu could be asked by the country's president to form a government even if his party stumbles. Smaller centrist parties like Lapid's will likely emerge as kingmakers.

In the waning hours of the campaign, Netanyahu hammered on a theme surprising to few Israelis, declaring that no Palestinian state would be created on his watch. Although the Israeli leader had endorsed a two-state solution six years ago, the peace process has been stymied since, and his rhetoric was read as an attempt to siphon off votes from other right-wing parties and shore up Likud.

The new government that emerges from this maneuvering will be faced immediately with a daunting set of challenges at home and abroad: economic woes that played an outsize role in the campaign; a damaged relationship with the United States, Israel's most important ally; external threats like Iran's nuclear program, which Netanyahu sought to frame as the most crucial threat to Israel's existence.

Herzog has said he will attempt to engage diplomatically with the Palestinians, a process that will be complicated by simmering anger over the summertime war in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian moves to challenge Israel in the International Criminal Court.

For nearly all of the campaign, Herzog had publicly teamed up with running mate Tzipi Livni, a former Cabinet minister and peace negotiator. But on the eve of the vote, the two quietly dropped a proposed arrangement to rotate the premiership between them, a deal that might have alienated some of the smaller parties the Zionist Union would need to form a coalition.

More than two dozen parties contested Tuesday's vote, with only about half forecast to muster enough votes to pass a threshold for being represented in the Knesset.

Despite the signs of Netanyahu's growing personal unpopularity, some supporters remained loyal. In Tel Aviv's open-air Carmel market, traditionally a Likud bastion, 46-year-old Adi Hayek, who runs a stall with cheap cosmetics and drugstore goods, said he would not abandon the prime minister now.

"It's Bibi or nothing," he said. "We are in good hands."

Special correspondent Sobelman reported from Jerusalem and Times staff writer King from Tel Aviv.

Follow @laurakingLAT on Twitter for news out of the Middle East

8:05 a.m.: This article has been updated with reports of a strong turnout and additional comments and background.

The article was originally published at 2:16 a.m.

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