Israelis vote in Knesset election

JERUSALEM

Israeli voters on Tuesday began to cast ballot to elect members of Knesset (Israel's parliament).

Voting is taking place at 10,720 polling stations across the country, plus another 96 at Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.

There are 6.3 million eligible voters in Israel, according to the country's electoral commission.

More than 40 political parties are vying to win seats in the 120-member Knesset, although only 12 parties are expected to pass the electoral threshold.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party and Blue and White political alliance led by retired general Benny Gantz are the main rivals in the polls.

By mid-day, nearly 24.8 percent of Israeli voters had cast ballots in the polls, according to the electoral commission.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu called on voters to heavily vote for his party to win a majority of seats in the Knesset.

"Likud does not have 61 votes (seats), we should be the majority party, otherwise [Yair] Lapid and Gantz will form a left-wing government," Netanyahu tweeted.

Gantz, for his part, called on voters to cast ballot for his party to "bring Netanyahu down."

"We have come to a truly important day, now everything is in your own hands, in our hands," Gantz said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Arab candidates complained of the presence of surveillance cameras pinned by Likud activists in polling stations in Arab towns and villages in Israel.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth estimated the number of secret cameras in all polling stations in Israel at more than 1,300.

Arab parties participating in the polls said some cameras were seized in a number of Arab villages and cities, including Nazareth.

Final opinion polls suggested that both Likud and Blue and White were neck-and-neck, with both parties expected to win 30 Knesset seats.

During his electoral campaign, Netanyahu vowed that “no single settler will be uprooted from the West Bank, which will remain under Israeli control, while Jerusalem will not be divided”.

If Netanyahu wins another term, he will be the longest-serving leader in Israel's history.

Netanyahu is running in the polls while facing charges of corruption and bribery in three cases.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg