21:54 Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, who is the main challenger to PM Netanyahu, says "it will be a long night." Exit polls due in minutes.
21:17: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 8 p.m. stands at 65.5%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 63.7%, or 4,071,398 voters. The turnout on Monday was the highest since the 1999 elections.
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19:19: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 6 p.m. stands at 56.3%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 53.5%, or 3,418,531 voters. The turnout on Monday was the highest since the 1999 elections.
17.30: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 4 p.m. stands at 47%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 44.3%, or 2,834,584 voters.
15.30: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 2 p.m. stands at 38.1%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 36.5%, or 2,331,974 voters.
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14:18: Facebook says it has suspended seven accounts it believes are fake for posts seeking to undermine voter turnout in the Arab sector. Over the past week, the social media giant has removed 30 fake profiles from its platform, citing the same reason.
14:02: Central Election Committee Chairman Justice Neal Handel has instructed the Likud to respond to a petition by the far-right Otzma Yehudit claiming the ruling party has been spreading rumors suggesting Otzma Yehudit had pulled out of the Knesset race.
Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir: "A red line in Israeli politics have been crossed. The panic and stress our rivals are under are leading them to break the law in an attempt to steal the elections. We will not be silenced."
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13:45: Labor-Gesher-Meretz leader Amir Peretz urged Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to "order his activists to cease their attacks on other members in the [Center-Left] bloc. I will be the responsible adult and I will not be degraded into this."
13:30: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 12 p.m. stands at 27.6%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 26.8%, or 1,713,936 voters.
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12:30: United Torah Judaism claims its voters have been receiving phone calls from unknown sources claiming that polling stations are closed or that they are registered as having voted. The party warns that this is an attempt to tamper with its electorate.
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11:53: The Central Election Committee reports that voter turnout as of 10 a.m. stands at 14.5%. Voter turnout for the same time during September's election stood at 15%, or 956,856 voters.
Video: GPO
11:21: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara voted in Jerusalem. The prime minister urged eligible voters to exercise their right, saying, "I call on everyone to vote – it's a great democratic privilege and we need to be proud of it"
He further cautioned against fake news, saying, "Don't listen to fake news that only try to prevent you from voting. Arrive at the polling stations with confidence and your head held high."
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10:32: Voting in third elections this year, President Reuven Rivlin said he felt "uneasy, ashamed even. The Israeli public did not deserve an election campaign that sunk to such lows. We simply didn't deserve this."
10:15: Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid voted in Tel Aviv and the public to exercise their democratic right to vote.
"I cast a ballot over the question of what country we will have tomorrow – a good, inclusive, decent and unifying country, or one of fear, hate, and polarization. Every Israeli should take a stand today on the question of where he wants to live."
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9:47: Yamina leader Naftali Bennett voted in Raanana. "These elections are not all about mud-slinging. There is another way, which is the love of the land of Israel. Go out and vote!"
9:45: Labor-Gesher-Meretz appealed to the Central Election Committee against Shas, claiming that representatives of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party were handing out charms to voters, in violation of election law. Labor-Gesher-Meretz asked the Central Election Committee to fine Shas.
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9:43: United Torah Judaism leader Yakov Litzman voted in Jerusalem. Litzman, who is also the health minister, urged the public to vote, saying the coronavirus poses no threat in polling stations.
"The Health Ministry has everything under control. Those who have been quarantined will vote in designated polling stations. The public can vote without hesitation," he said, urging everyone to "beware fake news. Only the Health Ministry can issue alerts about the coronavirus."
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9:41: Joint Arab List leader Ayman Odeh voted in Haifa. Speaking with reporters after he cast his ballot, Odeh said, "We cannot effect change in Israel without a partnership between Arabs and Jews."
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09:30: Blue and White leader Benny Gantz voted in Rosh Haayin, in central Israel. Gantz called on all Israelis to exercise their right to vote, saying, "I hope this will be the day when we bring about change and start living with each other, stop the mud-slinging, the lying, and the manipulations. I urge everyone to vote."
9:26: Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz voted in Tel Aviv, saying, "Every ballot counts. This is the moment of truth and each and every one of us has the power to decide. We won't allow for a fourth election to take place."
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9:25: Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir voted in Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron. "This is a morning when we can create alternatives," he told reporters. "This is a morning to vote for people whose word is set in stone. I ask you to vote for Otzma Yehudit. We are the alternative."
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09:10: Labor-Gesher-Meretz leader Amir Peretz voted in his hometown of Sderot, in southern Israel.
Speaking with reported after casting his ballot, Peretz urged the public to vote, saying, "This is the moment of truth. The political blocs are neck-and-neck in this race and victory is within reach. We can to it!"
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8:45: Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked called on Israelis to vote, saying, "We have to extract ourselves from this deadlock. I hope Yamina grows as much as possible."
8:12: Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman urged "the silent majority to vote." Speaking to reporters after voting in his home community of Nokdim, Lieberman said, "The results are crucial, they will decide between a halachic [religious] state and a strong Yisrael Beytenu. It's all up to the voters."
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8:00: Shas leader Aryeh Deri voted in Jerusalem, where he told reporters that the right-wing bloc "is very close to 60 seats. With a little effort, and if people don't waste their votes on Otzma Yehudit we'll get there."
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The 10,840 polling stations for Israel's third general election in under a year opened at 7 a.m. Monday morning, staffed by some 100,000 election workers.
Video: Reuters
Over 6.45 million Israelis are eligible to vote in the general elections, although the prevailing assessment leading up to Election Day was that a sense of alienation and frustration caused by the ongoing political impasse which has reigned since the April 9, 2019 election would lead to unusually low voter turnout.
The Sept. 17, 2019 election saw voter turnout of 69.83%, slightly higher than the voter turnout for the April 9 election, which stood at 68.5%.
To ensure that as many eligible voters as possible can exercise their right, the Central Elections Committee decided that 650 intercity bus lines, as well as the nation's trains, would offer free transportation.
The minimum electoral threshold (the percentage of the vote that a party must receive to make it into the Knesset) remains at 3.25%.
Polls will remain open until 10 p.m. Monday evening, with the exception of small local authorities with 350 or fewer registered voters, where polls will close at 8 p.m. Over 18,000 members of the Israel Police, Border Guards, and police volunteers, in addition to thousands of civilian security guards, are on duty at polling places to ensure that voters can cast ballots safely.
Meanwhile, Israel has imposed a general closure on Judea and Samaria and on crossings to and from the Gaza Strip. The closure will remain in place until midnight Monday, at which time the crossings are scheduled to reopen.
