• Israel to vote again, Netanyahu still chasing seats
  • Israel, all the unknowns of the vote

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17 September 2019The Israelis are voting to choose between a decade-old prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former army chief Benny Gantz.

Today's elections come five months after a first duel without a winner: last April Netanyahu had failed to form the new government coalition, remaining interim premier until today's election. Netanyahu seeks his fourth term, the third in a row.

The polling stations have opened at 7am (local time, 6am in Italy) and will close at 10pm (Italian 9pm) for this second round which, according to the latest Israeli TV polls, promises to be a fierce battle with a heads-up battle the Likud of Netanyahu and the Blue-White party of Gantz.

Approximately 6.4 million Israeli citizens vote for 10,700 polling stations. The exit polls will be released at the closing of the polling stations and the first results are expected in the late evening.

But the elections could deliver a country back to a standstill. According to the latest polls, neither the Likud party nor the Blue White should reach the majority of seats: the statistics give both to 33 (in the outgoing Parliament, Netanyahu has 38, Gantz 35).

It will therefore be mandatory, as is customary in Israeli politics, for a government alliance to form an executive and not return to the polls again. According to the polls, at the coalition level the prime minister's right has 58-59 deputies against 53 in the center-left. Both however without the 61 seats out of 120 in the Knesset (Parliament), which are the minimum threshold for governing.

Benny Gantz went to the polls in the company of his wife and asked the voters for a vote in favor of "hope" and against "corruption" and "extremism". "I urge all citizens of Israel to vote in good conscience. I urge you to vote for Blue and White, but I respect every decision," said Gantz.

Benjamin Netanyahu , after voting, has launched a new appeal to voters to go to the polls: "It is a very tight vote, as expected on the eve". Bibi also recalled that yesterday US President Donald Trump - his faithful ally - declared that the elections will be closed, "and I can assure you this morning that they are very tight".

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also spoke, promising to do everything possible to ensure that citizens do not have to repeat the vote within a few months: "I will prevent further elections and I will do anything to establish a government quickly".