Jerusalem - Israelis were voting Tuesday in a close-fought election pitting the centre left against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ruled out a Palestinian state in a last-ditch appeal to the far-right.
The outcome of the vote, in which polls indicate the centre-left Zionist Union will win the most seats, is likely to help determine the prospects for new Middle East peace talks and Israel's troubled relations with its US ally.
Some 5.8 million people are eligible to vote in the election for Israel's 20th Knesset, or parliament, which has 120 seats.
Voters have until 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) to cast their ballots and three hours into the voting, turnout stood at 13.7 percent.
Exit polls giving the first indications of the outcome are to be published just minutes after polling stations close.
On a cold but sunny morning, a handful of early voters turned up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Jerusalem which had bunting and the blue-and-white flag of the Zionist Union draped outside.
"I'd like to see Netanyahu disappear for many, many years. The most important issue is relations with the Palestinians," said Shulamit Laron, a woman in her fifties.
"I hope for change, of course, but I doubt things will change."
In the mixed Jewish-Arab port city of Haifa, some 50 people were queing at a polling station in Ahmediya school where pictures of candidates from the Joint Arab List were hanging on the walls outside.
"This is the first time that I've seen so many people here to vote," said Ehab Hamam, a 37-year-old Arab Israeli who works in hi-tech.
"For the Arabs, voting in this election is saying to the right: we are here," he said.
"I've never seen such a long queue outside a polling station," agreed 73-year-old Gideon Leber, a Jewish Israeli voter.
AFP
