Voter Turnout Higher than Usual; Arabs May Surprise Pollsters

(IsraelNN.com) Voter turnout Tuesday was 50.4 percent as of 6 p.m. (11 a.m. EST), 3.4 percent higher than at the same hour in the previous election in 2006, despite vicious winds and drenching rains in the north. The voter turnout in 2003 was slightly higher than Tuesday' figures.

Observers expected the voter turnout to be smaller than it usually is because of inclement weather, a factor which usually favors parties whose voters are more committed, mainly Meretz, Ichud Leumi (National Union), Jewish Home and other religious factions.

However, the high turnout also may reflect a growing number of young voters who are casting ballots for the first time and who are more ideologically oriented.

The presence of Ichud Leumi (National Union) delegates as voting monitors in the northern Arab city of Umm el-Fahm spurred riots and rock throwing and may spur angry Arabs to vote instead of boycotting the election.

The turnout of Arab vote was expected to be lower than usual as protest against a Knesset Election Committee decision to invalidate two Arab parties for being anti-Israel. The High Court overturned the decision. Another reason cited for an Arab election boycott is Arab indignance over the war in Gaza.

The three Arab parties now represented in the Knesset have issued a first-ever joint call for Arabs to participate in the election. Only 56 percent of Israeli Arabs voted in the last election in 2006 and elected nine Knesset Members to the 17th Knesset. Pre-election polls indicated there will be between 6-9 Arab MKs in the 18th Knesset.

In the 2006 election, 63.5 percent of Israeli citizens voted, 5.4 percent less than in 2003. The all-time low of 62.3 percent was recorded in 2001, when Ariel Sharon scored a landslide victory with 40 Likud mandates,

Voting turnout in Israeli elections traditionally had been relatively high, ranging from 75.3 percent to 86.9 percent between 1949 and 1999 before the sharp drop in 2001.

President Shimon Peres and all party leaders called on all eligible citizens to cast a ballot despite a growing percentage of frustrated citizens who think "there is no one to vote for."

Israel National News announces all night election coverage including a live TV broadcast and an up-to-the-minute - Elections Results Page

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com) Kadima has pulled ahead of Likud and now holds a two-seat edge with 91 percent of the votes counted. The ballots of soldiers, who usually favor nationalist parties, will be tallied on Wednesday and may cause a near tie between the two leading parties.

Kadima now is projected to win 29 seats in the Knesset, two more than Likud. In third place is Israel Is Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu), with 15 Knesset Members, followed by Labor with 13 MKs, Shas with 11 MKs and Meretz with only three seats.

Ichud Leumi (National Union) is projected to win four mandates, compared with three for the Jewish Home faction. United Torah Judaism (UTJ) will win four seats, according to the returns. Three Arab parties will increase their Knesset representation by two and will have 11 MKs, according to the preliminary results.

In a speech to supporters, Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said that the voters clearly have made their choice for a government of nationalist and religious parties, which have the potential of forming a government with at least 64 Knesset Members.

"The government under my control will have to deal with very difficult challenges," he commented. Netanyahu singled out the threat of a nuclear Iran and the current economic crises as the immediate issues that must be dealt with

Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni claimed victory and called on Netanyahu to join a national unity government, an offer he refused last September when she tried to form a coalition after taking over from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as head of Kadima.