Il Nuovo Postiglione - Turnout high as Israeli voters deliver verdict on Netanyahu

After casting his vote in Jerusalem, Netanyahu expressed worry over high voting numbers among Israel's Arab minority and warned of attempts to "steal the election", a signal of a potential long fight ahead as he echoed his ally US President Donald Trump.

Nationwide turnout in the first five hours of the election was the highest at that stage in nearly 50 years, with the Central Elections Committee giving a figure of 31.5 percent.

Israelis are casting their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by October 7, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign.

The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by its devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.

The last opinion polls to be published showed Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, running neck and neck with his main rival Gadi Eisenkot, a centrist political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent.

Before voting, Eisenkot paid his respects privately at the grave of his son Gal, whose death fighting in Gaza has brought empathy from many Israelis.

Speaking afterwards at a polling station, Eisenkot called on Israelis to ignore distractions and vote to replace "the worst government since the state was established".

Some 7.3 million people are eligible to vote, with tens of thousands of Israelis estimated to have flown in from abroad for an election seen as crucial to deciding the future character of their country.

Eilana Zisblit, 55, told AFP she had travelled back from Canada where she has lived for almost 30 years in order "to make a change", voting for a centre-right party in Eisenkot's bloc.

"The country is going in a really, really bad direction. Both for Jews and Arabs living in the country, and for Jews living abroad," she said.

She said the election was crucial, explaining: "It's now, or the country really won't survive anymore."

- 'Incitement and violence' -

Netanyahu, 77, has served as Israel's prime minister on and off for more than 19 years.

He has used Arab-Israeli parties throughout the election to stoke fears of a Palestinian state -- and said on Tuesday that three senior officials of the Raam party had been arrested with envelopes full of cash in the south.

"We cannot leave this battle here in the hands of the left and the Arab parties that want to bring an end to the Jewish state," Netanyahu said, urging Israelis to vote for his right-wing Likud party.

The acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, Dean Livne, said that police had "caught individuals who tried to bribe voters" even before people had arrived at polling stations in the morning.

He said the unidentified suspects were not at polling stations and were caught near their homes, adding the matter was a localised case and under investigation.

In Tel Aviv, Israel's main left-wing party The Democrats -- which is part of Eisenkot's opposition bloc -- said police had arrested a man with a knife who had moved threateningly towards its leader Yair Golan.

"Incitement and violence will not intimidate us," Golan said in a statement, blaming the incident on the "poison machine" of Netanyahu.

- Wily operator -

Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022, bringing into his coalition far-right ultra-nationalists who have since seen their political clout skyrocket.

Seeking to unseat the premier is an informal bloc of parties led by Eisenkot's Yashar and spanning from the right to the centre-left -- including former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as seasoned politician Avigdor Lieberman and left-leaning Golan.

Neither Eisenkot, 66, nor Netanyahu has publicly said they would partner with the predominantly Arab lists, which represent some 21 percent of Israel's population and who could become kingmakers if the results are as close as expected.

Netanyahu, a wily political operator, has described himself as the only person who can keep Israel safe. In the last days of the campaign, he posted an image of a nuclear bomb destroying Tel Aviv and talked up his endorsement by Trump.

Opposition leaders accused him of playing games with security, while media outlets reported an extraordinary clash between Netanyahu and the military which allegedly feared he would take action on Iran for political gain.

Netanyahu, who denied the reports, in the years since October 7 has ordered multiple wars that have seen Israeli forces reduce Gaza to rubble, occupy southern Lebanon and for the first time pummel arch-foe Iran with US help.

At home, Israelis have faced bombardment from Iran, Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Most polling stations will close at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Final results could take days to trickle in and it is highly unlikely that any single party will come close to the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member parliament.

Cobbling together any coalition could take weeks or months, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail.

A.Mariconda--INP