ROSH HAYAAIN, Israel (AFP) — Former military chief Benny Gantz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger in elections Monday, voiced hope the country would “change the tune,” after a year of political stalemate.
“It’s about time that we be much more united,” Gantz said after voting in the central town of Rosh Haayin.
“I hope that today will be the day that we change the tune, stop the mudslinging (and) stop the lying,” he added, in a dig at Netanyahu, following an at-times bitter campaign.
Israel was holding its third election in less than 12 months following inconclusive votes in April and September.
Final opinion polls indicated that Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance was again running close with Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud.
Both sides are expected to fall well short of the 61 seats needed to form a majority in parliament, meaning one camp will have to build alliances with smaller parties to form a stable governing coalition.
That failed to happen following the two previous polls.
The head of the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, was in the position of kingmaker after the last two elections.
But he refused to strike a deal with either camp.
Voting in the Nokdim settlement in the occupied West Bank where he lives, Lieberman called on Israel’s “silent majority” to go the polls.
“Everything depends on you,” he said.
© Agence France-Presse
