Herzog says win is in reach, as Netanyahu slams leftists and Arabs
With election day nearing its end, prime ministerial-hopeful Isaac Herzog urges voters to go out and vote, slamming Netanyahu for 'hysterical' last minute campaign, which has seen Likud leader blaming left, Arabs and media for trying to oust him.
The Zionist Union's candidate for prime minister Isaac Herzog urged Israelis to get out and vote, claiming that a win for the center-left camp was still possible. Prime Minister Netanyahu for his part continued with his fiery rhetoric, slamming the left and Israeli Arabs in an attempt to shore up support from hardliner right wing voters.
Herzog visited the city of Modi'in Tuesday afternoon and said that these elections were a "decisive battle for the future of the nation."
"(A win) is within reach, go out and vote," he told cheering supporters in Tel Aviv later.
Netanyahu has taken on a somewhat conspiratorial tone in recent days, blaming a coalition of unnamed "foreign governments" and left wing organizations of trying to oust him. On Election Day, he took aim at Israeli Arabs, saying the left was trying to encourage them to vote in a bid to unseat him.
In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, Netanyahu reiterated the claim, saying a center-left government would have to involve Arab lawmakers, who despite being the representatives of 20 percent of Israel's population, posed a threat according to Netanyahu.
"A leftist government will be dependent on the Joint Arab List and will capitulate all the way," Netanyahu said, adding that "there will be no unity government with the Labor (Zionist Union) party - there is no way to bridge the gaps between us."
Nonetheless, he remained confident Tuesday evening, saying that if he will be in charge of forming the next government he will "form a government of the national camp (right-wing bloc)."
Herzog slammed the prime minister, saying "Netanyahu's panic is embarrassing… Whoever wants a prime minister that worries about citizens, that does not incite or divide, must stand up, go out and vote."
Netanyahu also slammed what he called the "just not Bibi camp" for silencing him after Israel's election committee barred local media from broadcasting a live speech he scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, citing voting propaganda laws.
"Even a Likud prime minister has the right to speak," Netanyahu told supporters in a recorded message, claiming that the media was silencing him, "everyone but Netanyahu was given a chance to speak," he said.
Netanyahu's comments against Israeli Arab voters raised the ire of some leftists, with the head of Meretz party saying the comments should disqualify him as prime minister.
"Netanyahu lost his legitimacy to govern today. He's inciting to racism against Israel's Arab citizens in a way that is unacceptable even from a back bench politician, but when an incumbent prime minister calls the vote of 20 percent of Israeli society a threat that needs to be dealt with he loses his legitimacy, regardless of the results," said Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon.
Head of the right wing Bayit Yehudi party Naftali Bennett took issue with the Likud as well as with the left, saying "there is a massive mobilization of the left wing… and unfortunately the Likud has been mobilizing against Bayit Yehudi with unprecedented force. We cannot let the house fall," he said in reference to his party's name – the Jewish Home.
"The government and the Knesset need a strong religious-Zionist force, and we will use the remaining hours to try to block the Likud offensive," Bennett said.
An estimated 65.7 percent of Israel's eligible voters cast their ballots at polling stations throughout Israel by 6pm Tuesday, the highest since 1999, and forecasts predict Israel will cross the 70 percent turnout by 10 pm when polls close.
Polls opened at 7am in more than 10,000 locations across the country. Up for grabs are the 120 seats in the Knesset and the reins of leadership of the entire country, with the party winning the most seats traditionally securing the first invitation from the president - currently former Likud stalwart Reuven Rivlin - to form a new coalition government.
Netanyahu's Likud party has been trailing in the polls, between three to five seats behind the newly amalgamated Labor party, led by Isaac Herzog, and Hatnuah, headed by Tzipi Livni. The new joint list, Zionist Union, has maintained an almost consistent lead in the opinion polls since mid-February.
Israel has been preparing for its second national vote in as many years since December, when Netanyahu fired his senior coalition partners - Livni and Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid - and declared elections.
The 5,883,365 Israelis registered to vote can do so in one of 10,119 locations, of which 2,500 have wheelchair access. Unlike in the US and Britain, Israelis serving a custodial sentence are allowed to vote, and 56 ballot boxes have been set up in 27 different prisons around the country. Another 255 ballot boxes have been set up in hospitals around Israel.
The polls close at 10pm, at which time the three main television channels will publish their exit polls. The final results begin to trickle in on Wednesday morning, when the results after a 90-percent count are released.
On Thursday, the results after a 99-percent count will be published, and final full count will be presented to President Rivlin on Thursday, March 25.
Itay Blumenthal and Attila Somfalvi contributed to this report
