Netanyahu, Livni both confident of victory as Israelis begin voting

Both Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu and Kadima leader Tzipi Livni expressed cautious optimism on Monday that they would emerge victorious in the election, but their associates said they expected the race to be very close and that it was possible that neither side would win decisively. Â

 

In final messages to their potential voters, delivered in meetings with top party activists and media interviews, Netanyahu and Livni stressed that the race was between the two of them and that whoever voted for a smaller party would end up with a prime minister they did not want.

 

"With God's help, we will win," Netanyahu said on a visit to the Western Wall Monday evening, while Livni declared "Victory is at hand", on a train ride from Tel Aviv to the Negev.

 

In the three weeks since Israel’s 22-day military offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip, polls have given those parties, Netanyahu’s Likud, a majority in Israel’s 120-member parliament. At the same time, Netanyahu’s lead over Livni’s Kadima has narrowed.

 

For months, opinion polls have predicted a decisive victory by Netanyahu’s Likud Party. But new polls released over the weekend showed Kadima closing the gap.

 

Parties generally aligned with Netanyahu’s policies will get 67 seats, according to a survey published in the daily Yediot Ahronot on Feb. 6. Kadima and other parties that support wider concessions for peace, will win 53, it said. The margin of error was 2.6 percentage points.

 

Polls have consistently shown the rightist Likud party under Netanyahu set to at least double its current 12 seats, with Livni's centrist Kadima close behind and ultra-rightist Avigdor Lieberman fighting for third with Labor.

 

Neither is expected to get more than 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament, however, meaning the winner will likely have to form a coalition with smaller parties.

 

A partnership with the moderate Kadima and Labor parties might push Netanyahu toward the middle, but it is unlikely he would agree to far-reaching compromises, such as uprooting Jewish settlements or ceding partial control of Jerusalem, for peace with the Palestinians.

 

EXIT POLLS

Most of the country’s 9,263 polling stations opened as scheduled at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT). Polls are open in all but the smallest communities until 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), at which time the country’s three television networks will release exit polls.

 

Exit polls are expected to start making projections as soon as polls close, with the first official results starting to come in before dawn Wednesday.

 

In the West Bank, where Israel retains security control, the army imposed a curfew from midnight on Palestinians on concerns of possible attacks. In Israel, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and most businesses are closed today.

 

About 5.3 million Israelis have the right to cast ballots for the 34 parties vying for seats in the parliament, or Knesset.

 

No Israeli political party has ever won an outright majority, so President Shimon Peres likely will tap the person he thinks stands the best chance of forming a governing coalition. Parliament must then approve the new cabinet.

 

Under Israel’s system of proportional representation, the number of seats each party receives is determined by the percentage of the national vote they win. While some parties hold primaries to select their candidates, others appoint them.