Special Coverage

Residents of Israel's biggest cities are getting out the vote, which is good news for Blue and White and the left-wing coalition as a whole.

Netanyahu makes suprise appearance at Mahane Yehuda open-air market, takes bullhorn to warns shoppers Left is going to win. Earlier, Likud said Arab parties could win 15 seats.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's election is going to be "very close" and calls on the voting public not to vote for parties that "won't pass the electoral threshold." Shaked: Netanyahu trying to prevent Yamina's chances: "We are at war." Gantz: "We are voting today for change."

Calling on public to go out and vote, President Reuven Rivlin says he will act to establish a new government as soon as possible. "We must remember that in the democratic game, influence only passes through the ballot box," he says.

The potential kingmaker of the election, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, says he will insist upon a unity government that includes Netanyahu's Likud and its main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party. There won't be a third round of elections and the parties will have to deal with the "constellation" that emerges from this vote, he says.

Voter turnout for the election stands at 69.4%. Yisrael Beytenu, only party not clearly aligned with either camp, may decide identity of prime minister. All exit polls show far-right Otzma Yehudit failing to pass the minimum electoral threshold.

Having learned the painful lesson in April that every vote counts, the various parties are planning everything from social media blitzes to fleets of buses to bring supporters to the polls.

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz: I want Gabi Ashkenazi, who rehabilitated the country after the Second Lebanon War, as defense minister, and Moshe Ya'alon as education minister, so he can heal the rifts in Israeli society.

Last poll of this election cycle predicts 33 seats for the Likud and 31 for Blue and White, but shows that a left-wing coalition that includes the Arab parties would win 62 seats – ensuring that the Right would be shut out.