photo: 2008, Candidate Obama meets Isaac Herzog and other Israeli officials
From Haaretz:
9:28 P.M. Zionist Union "very carefully optimistic," officials say
Officials in the Zionist Union voiced "very careful optimism" with their projections of the election results. A party official said the voter turnout in their bases have been relatively good.
The far right Yahad party, however, issued an urgent call to its supporters, calling on them to go vote as their polls show they are only 1,500 short of crossing the electoral threshold. (Ido Efrati)
http://www.haaretz.com/...
Polls close in less than 10 minutes...Go Herzog!
Update 1: 4:05pm EDT, Polls now closed.
It was a high turn-out election, according to this Haaretz chart:
Please feel free to treat this post as a liveblog - I will be looking for updates in the comments and elsewhere. L'chaim!
Update 2: 4:29pm EDT
Many exit polls are now showing a virtual tie, with 27 seats for both Zionist Union and Likud. Bear in mind these exit polls are different from the Zionist Union's internal projections cited above.
MK Itzik Shmuli of the Zionist Union addressed the exit polls published Tuesday evening in the Ynet studio and said: "This is an effective tie. If up until now we thought that the electons would be over at 10 (pm), the party has just begun. We are entering a huge battle with the heads of the other factions and I trust Herzog and his political ability to form a coalition that will put an end to six bad years."
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
Update 3: 4:50pm EDT
Zionist Union still sounds confident with their numbers. Here is the latest from Haaretz, after Bibi posted something about "a great victory for Likud" on his facebook page:
10:40 P.M. Zionist Union said in response to the exit polls: "Likud keeps misleading. The rightist bloc has shrunk. Everything is possible until the real results are in, when we can know which parties passed the electoral threshold and which government we can form. All the spins and statements are premature. A negotiating team has been formed in an effort to form a government led by Herzog."
fingers crossed...
Update 4: 5:02pm EDT
This is all still exit-poll-based conjecture, but The Jewish Daily Forward favors Herzog:
On the left, Herzog (27), Lapid (12) plus Meretz (5) equals 44. On the right, Likud (27), Bennett (8) plus Lieberman (5) equals 40.
Additional recommendations, though no commitment to join a coalition later: Joint List for Herzog: 13. Haredim for Bibi: 13 (assuming Torah Judaism recommends Bibi — they might not recommend anyone). Total recommendations: 57 for Herzog, 53 for Bibi. By cannibalizing Bennett’s vote to bring his own party even with Herzog’s, Bibi may have undermined his bloc and weakened his bargaining power. Unless there’s a big surprise — or Kahlon decides to break his silence and recommend Bibi — it looks to me like Herzog gets first crack at negotiating for a coalition.
http://blogs.forward.com/...
Update 5: 5:22pm EDT
It still sounds like a toss-up...
From The New York Times:
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his chief challenger, Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union, appeared to win about the same number of seats in Parliament in Tuesday’s election, according to Israeli news media and exit polls, promising a protracted and messy process of forming the next governing coalition.
If the major parties remain tied or within a single seat once all the votes are counted, a critical factor will be the so-called blocs — right-wing parties expected to back Mr. Netanyahu, and left-leaning ones that favor Mr. Herzog. But those tallies remained unclear Tuesday evening.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Update 6: 6:01pm EDT
From The Guardian:
Isaac Herzog leads prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu by slim margin.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
Update 7: 7:39pm EDT
Both Herzog and Netanyahu have claimed victory. From jta.org:
"I intend to make every effort to put together a socially conscious government for Israel, a good government, a government that returns Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state, a socially aware country that strives for peace with our neighbors,” Herzog said at his campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv. “I call on all the relevant factions to unite behind me for a government of reconciliation for Israel.”
He called on his supporters to “go to sleep,” since no decisions will be made overnight.
Livni said the party would make every effort to form a government headed by Herzog, a day after she agreed to step aside from a rotating premiership if it would make it easier to form a government coalition.
http://www.jta.org/...
Update 8: 8:02pm EDT
On All In (MSNBC), Chris Hayes says it is STILL TOO CLOSE TO CALL. $&@%
Update 9: 8:23pm EDT
A recent tweet from Andrea Mitchell (NBC News):
Netanyahu declares victory at his hq but so does opposition Israel president wants unity govt @NBCNightlyNews pic.twitter.com/bmiJjk0SVR
Update 10: 9:35pm EDT
Things maybe going south for Herzog. From The New York Times:
Israeli Balloting Appears to Keep Netanyahu Ahead
TEL AVIV — After a bruising campaign focused on his failings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel seemed to emerge from Tuesday’s elections in the best position to form a new government, though he offended many voters and alienated allies in the process.
While the results were still incomplete, exit polls and partial returns suggested that Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party was likely to claim 27 or 28 of the 120 seats in Parliament, and his chief rival, the center-left Zionist Union alliance, to take 26 or 27.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Update 11:
From Haaretz:
3:23 A.M. With 60 percent of votes counted, Likud leads with 23.73 percent over Zionist Union's 19.07 percent. Yesh Atid stands at 8.92 percent, the Joint List at 9.63 percent, Kulanu at 7.53 percent, Habayit Hayehudi at 6.4 percent, Shas at 5.88 percent, Yisrael Beiteinu at 5.26 percent, United Torah Judaism at 5.15 percent, Meretz at 3.95 percent and Yahad at 3.04 percent.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
hmph. Well, 40% of the vote remains to be counted...
Perhaps I should take Herzog's advice and go to sleep.
Update 12: 10:45pm EDT
MSNBC just put a breaking news graphic at the bottom of the screen, reading:
With 90% of vote counted, Likud has 30 seats, ZU has 24 seats