Higher-than-expected turnout as Israeli election enters crunch time

The election for the 19th Knesset got underway on Tuesday. More than 5.5 million Israelis can exercise their democratic right this year by casting their ballot at more than 10,000 polling stations spread all over the country. (Tune in for Israel Hayom updates throughout the day on Facebook and Twitter until all the results are in.)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Paula Ben-Gurion Elementary School in Jerusalem shortly after voting began Tuesday accompanied by his wife Sara and their two sons Avner and Yair. Netanyahu held an impromptu press conference at the school, holding his party’s voting slip for the cameras before he tucked it into an envelope and cast his ballot. Netanyahu said this was the first time his whole family had voted together. „I have always said the Likud-Beytenu [the joint Likud and Yisrael Beytenu Knesset candidate list] represents the entire nation, and in this case, the whole family,” Netanyahu said. ” Anyone who wants Israel to succeed should vote for one big party.”

„Today is a cloudy day, but not rainy,” he said. „Nevertheless we want a downpour of Likud-Yisrael Beytenu voting slips — it is good for the State of Israel.”

The Netanyahus then visited the Western Wall and, true to Jewish tradition, left notes containing their wishes between the cracks of the ancient wall. According to a Likud spokesperson, Netanyahu wrote „With the help of God, for the future of Israel.”

„I keep coming back to the Western Wall, to touch the bedrock of our existence, and I pray for the future of Israel and the future of our people,” Netanyahu told reporters at the site.

MK Avigdor Lieberman, no. 2 on the Likud-Beytenu list, voted in his hometown of Nokdim. Shortly after voting he said the most important event on the eve of the elections was Beitar Jerusalem football club’s victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv on Monday. „Just like the Beitarniks won decisively on Monday, so too will the national camp [shorthand for the right-wing parties] and Likud-Beytenu win in the elections,” he quipped.

Habayit Heyehudi leader Naftali Bennett voted in his hometown of Raanana at around 8 a.m. with his wife Gilat. Upbeat, he told reporters that „when I see everyone joining Habayit Hayehudi I know that something new is about to begin among the Jewish people.”

He expressed hope that the party „gets the opportunity to do something good here.” Bennett left for the southern city of Beersheba immediately after voting, in what was to be a very intense day full of campaign stops, including Lod and Petach Tikva. He is expected to arrive at his party’s headquarters when the results come in on Tuesday night.

Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich was seen taking her dog out for a walk before voting near her home in Tel Aviv and was to later join party activists in the Yarkon Park in northern Tel Aviv for a campaign event.

Yair Lapid, who heads Yesh Atid (There is a Future), began his day with a Karate training session, sticking to his routine schedule. After voting in an elementary school in Ramat Aviv Gimmel in northern Tel Aviv he shared some laughs with the press, saying „It feels rather strange to vote for yourself; but it is exciting and joyful.”

He then joked, „There are so many cameras here, has anyone seen my wife? Oh there she is.” Later on Tuesday he was scheduled to campaign in Haifa, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Motzkin, Hadera and Netanya.

The spiritual leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and the party’s two political leaders, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Aryeh Deri, arrived together at the polling station on Tuesday. Yosef, who was recently hospitalized due to a minor stroke, was supported by Yishai as he entered.

Deri exuded optimism, telling reporters that Shas will win more Knesset seats than it currently holds once all the votes are counted. Yishai echoed that sentiment saying, „I hope we will get more than (the current) 11 seats; any new seat is a blessing.” After voting Yosef issued a blessing to Shas supporters, saying,”Those who like God, may he be blessed, will rise and reach the skies.”

Turnout this year may ultimately defy expectations if the first few hours of voting are any indication. On Monday, the head of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, implored Israelis to exercise their right to vote. „The campaign for the 19th Knesset has ended. Now it is time for voters of both genders to decide. It is very important, even vital, that you go out and vote,” Rubinstein said.

„There are some among us, perhaps mainly among the youth, who have lost faith in politics and the candidates. The cynicism that the political class exudes sometimes generates cynicism among voters. I want to persuade you to go to the polling stations, regardless of whether you are content with the current state of politics or whether you want to change things. Your time has come,” he added.

According to Israel Radio more than 26 percent of eligible voters had already cast their votes by noon on Tuesday. According to Yedioth Ahronoth’s online news portal Ynet, in light of the relatively high turnout in the morning and noon hours, the overall turnout could eventually be the highest since 1999.

Hatnuah (The Movement) Chairwoman Tzipi Livni made one last effort to appeal to Israelis who were concerned over the fate of the peace process on Tuesday, posting on her Facebook profile the following statement: „Today we are going to decide on tomorrow; I believe that in the voting booth, you will be thinking, like all of us, about the home that our parents built, a home that we want to pass on to our children once we are gone. At this moment of truth, I ask for your trust. Together we will have the strength to stand resolute against the radical front that has taken over Israel and to fight for a peace agreement, which is an integral part of the Zionist dream of a safe Jewish democracy in the Land of Israel.”

Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz, whose once-dominant party is now fighting for its political survival, urged voters to think about Israel’s well-being and touted his record as a former IDF chief. „Anyone who has the security of the State of Israel on one’s mind and believes in sound judgement and experience should vote Kadima,” Mofaz wrote on his Facebook page. „The Left lacks experience and the Right is irresponsible,” he stressed. He predicted that Kadima will turn out to be the „surprise of this election.”

President Shimon Peres, who voted at a Jerusalem high school Tuesday morning, said all Israelis should participate in the elections. „Israelis were given a day off (for voting), and it represents an opportunity that encapsulates liberty — the right to vote in a free, democratic and beautiful country,” he said.

„This is a great thing. Usually the people present demands to their elected officials, now the state has a request that is directed at the people — come out and vote,” he pleaded.

Officials at the President’s Residence took pains to note that Peres will deal with coalition talks and task a candidate with the job of forming a coalition only after the Central Elections Committee certifies the final results, eight days after the election. In accordance with Israeli law, the president will invite party representatives next week to have them make their case on who should be prime minister. He will then have to select the MK who has the best chance of forging an alliance that comprises a majority of Knesset members. The would-be premier would then have several weeks to negotiate the terms of his coalition and swear in his government. The conventional wisdom is that Netanyahu will get the nod from the president, owing to the overall strength of the Right and the religious parties’ tendency to favor more hardline governments.