Exit polls in: Likud and Zionist Union neck and neck

The voting stations have closed in Israel and the first exit polls are in. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the Zionist Union appear neck and neck.

While Channel 2 polls, put Netanyahu at 28 seats, one seat ahead Zionist Union, both the official government Channel One, and the independent Channel 10 put the two at 27 each.

According to all the polls, the joint Arab list is in third place with 13 seats, although leadership has said that they hope this will increase to 14 seats by the morning.

Some analyst have pointed out that Palestinian Citizens of Israel tend to vote later in the day, possibly coming out as late as the last hour of voting, which could influence later exit polls.

Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid came fourth with between 13 to 11 seats, according to the different polls. Kulanu has between nine and ten, and ultra-orthodox Shas has seven.

While initial reports suggested liberal Meretz had failed to pass the electoral threshold, they seem to have scraped in with five seats. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberma’s far-right Jewish Home also appears to have only secured five seats.

Oren Ziv, reporting for MEE from the Zionist Union headquarters said that the mood there seemed victorious, although the leadership have yet to show up.

“This is a victory and means that the situation will improve and we [Zionist Union] will be able to form a government,” Oren Pastenah a field activist from Zionist Union told MEE.

“According to the polls, the Israeli public does not want Netanyahu as a Prime Minister. We started the campaign with 12 seats in the polls so for us this is a big success. We remain optimist and have a lot of energy for the rest of the evening.” 

More to follow. For all the latest visit our Liveblog.