Israel elections: exit polls say Netanyahu wins but short of majority

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is chasing re-election while facing criminal indictment

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  A Blue and White party election campaign banner depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Amir Ohana and Education Minister Rafi Peretz with Hebrew writing reading: "Blue and White or Erdogan" and "Saving Israel", is seen in Modiin, Israel. REUTERS

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  A boy watches his father as he stands behind a booth at a polling station and votes in Israel's national election, in the Israeli settlement of Nokdim, in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

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  Paramedics take part in a coronavirus response training at a special polling station for quarantined Israelis in Tel Aviv. AFP

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  Israeli demonstrators lift placards against Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu as an election campaign van for the Arab Joint List passes by, on the main road leading to the bedouin village of Tal al-Sabaa, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva. AFP

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  Israeli employees present and demonstrate a special polling station for Israeli voters in home quarantine because of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, Israel. EPA

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  A man stands behind a booth at a polling station in Nokdim, in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

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  A boy puts his father's ballot in the box. Reuters

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  A man prepares to cast his ballot in the Israeli settlement of Nokdim, in the occupied West Bank. REUTERS

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  Staff from Israel's Central Election Commission prepare a special polling station for quarantined Israelis. AFP

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  Staff from Israel's Central Election Commission prepare a special polling station for quarantined Israelis. AFP

Israelis voted on Monday, with exit polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushing ahead but short of a majority after a campaign called “awful and grubby” by the country’s president.

Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party was projected to win 36 seats, ahead of the centrist Blue and White party of rival Benny Gantz with 33 seats, the exit poll by public broadcaster Kan showed.

While the forecast results see the premier performing better than expected, just two weeks before he is due in court on corruption charges Mr Netanyahu would still be one seat short of a governing coalition.

The third-largest alliance in the 120-member Knesset is set to be the Arab-led Joint List, with 15 seats the Kan exit poll showed.

Turnout was higher than the last two elections in the past year, despite concerns over the spread of coronavirus and widespread frustration at leaders’ failure to form a government.

After casting his ballot, President Reuven Rivlin urged Israelis to vote while admitting he felt a “sense of deep shame” on election day.

“We don’t deserve another awful and grubby election campaign like the one that ends today and we don’t deserve this never-ending instability," Mr Rivlin said in Jerusalem. "We deserve a government that works for us."

With turnout increasing in September among Palestinian citizens of Israel, largely due to Mr Netanyahu’s anti-Arab speech, the Joint List pushed for the momentum to continue in Monday’s election.

As voting got under way at a school in occupied East Jerusalem, principal Haitham Salameh said he hoped "better representation as an Arab minority inside Israel".

Mr Salameh called for a government that would “give rights and justice” to Arab Israelis, who make up about 20 per cent of the electorate.

His sentiment was echoed by an Israeli who said she was voting for the Joint List because “it represents me as an Arab”.

A steady stream of people turned up to cast their votes, while a horse grazed on scrubland outside the building.

Near by, in West Jerusalem, dozens of Israelis were lining up to cast their votes at one of the special polling stations set up for people in quarantine at home.

So far 12 people have had coronavirus diagnosed in Israel, while more than 5,600 others are in quarantine at home over concerns that they may have been exposed.

At a designated car park in Jerusalem, staff in protective body suits called voters forward before pouring antibacterial gel on to their hands.

Each voter was given blue plastic gloves to put on before entering a white tent with an Israeli flag hanging on the wall.

Hadas Vinograd, 27, said she had been in quarantine at home since returning from Italy with her husband on Thursday.

“It was important to us to vote but we were very scared to leave the house, because we heard that all the people that may have coronavirus are going to be here today,” said Ms Vinograd, a lawyer.

Israelis have been ordered to go into quarantine for 14 days if they have visited Italy or other countries affected by coronavirus.

Ms Vinograd said she checked her temperature daily and received calls from her healthcare provider.

“We don’t have any symptoms so we came, and we are trying to vote for an hour and a half already,” she said, holding her face mask to stop it slipping off.

While Israel has allayed coronavirus fears sufficiently to hold an election, turning the results into a functioning government will prove far harder.

Weeks of coalition negotiations are expected to follow, coinciding with the start of Mr Netanyahu’s corruption trial on March 17.

During the campaign, Mr Gantz said the incumbent would be far too busy with his legal woes to lead a government.

But the exit polls suggest Likud did not lose significant support since its leader was indicted.

Mr Rivlin gave Mr Netanyahu the job of forming a government after September’s inconclusive election, later turning to Mr Gantz who also failed to get the necessary support among smaller parties.

Neither leader has shifted their negotiating positions, nor indicated that they are willing to make further compromises, leading some to forecast a fourth election within months.

They include voter Imaad Salman, 44, who saw a similar outcome even if the Joint List were able to clinch 15 seats.

No matter the final tally, Ms Salman had one demand of Israel’s longest-serving leader: “Netanyahu should step down from the leadership and leave.”