The Central Elections Committee reported that 47% of the electorate had voted by 6 PM - compared with some 53% at the same time during the last election, when turnout was the lowest it ever was. At the current rate, the final voter turnout is expected to be approximately 62% - the lowest ever for a Knesset election.
The office of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu announced this morning that he had not issued a call to support Baruch Marzel's Hazit party. The announcement was made in response to a round of cellular phone messages stating the opposite.
The Central Elections Committee has confirmed to Arutz-7 that the votes of parties that do not receive the required minimum - expected to be between 60,000 and 65,000 - will not be distributed to other parties according to the Bader-Ofer method, but will be thrown out altogether.
The Hebrew NFC news site features last-day articles by the prime ministerial candidates. Excerpts:
Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu:
"The path of the Likud is that of Menachem Begin: to seek peace from a position of strength, not of weakness. I know that many of you agree with our path: to fight terror firmly, not to collapse with further withdrawals, and not to pave, with our own hands, the road to the establishment of an Iranian-influenced Hamas state in the heart of the land. And I therefore believe that at the moment of truth, when you stand behind the curtain, you will not vote for the dangerous collapse of Olmert and Peres.
"I don't mind so much if you vote for Lieberman, Shas and the National Union - our natural partners, because they know that without the Likud, the nationalist camp is finished... "
Kadima leader Ehud Olmert:
"This is your chance to say yes to a Jewish and democratic state, yes to stability, yes to normalcy... Previous generations built here a national home, and we are now called upon to stabilize it and guarantee the continued existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state with a clear Jewish majority... If our neighbors continue to miss chances for an arrangement, Israel will take its future into its own hands and will form its own character as a Jewish and democratic state... In the merit of the settlement enterprise, we will be able to preserve the large and significant Jewish settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, we will set the route of the security fence, we will keep the security areas and we will promise that Jewish communities will not remain behind the fence..."
Amir Peretz of Labor:
"There have never been clearer elections than these. You the voter are presented with two clear ways between which you must choose - that which Binyamin Netanyahu poses, or the way of Labor... Everything is clear: Whoever wants all of the Land of Israel and is willing to live by the sword his whole life, will vote for the right. Whoever refuses to give up his ambition for peace, together with warfare that knows no compromise against terrorism, will choose us.
"Whoever wants extreme free market economics in which people are slaves to the economy and the free market is a jungle in which only the strong win, will vote for Netanyahu. Whoever wants a market economy that serves man and sees man as the most important for growth, will vote for us...
"[Regarding Kadima], it is hard to fight against a party that has no path, platform, obligations or democratic institutions. It's a party that is a place of refuge for all those who were unable to get chosen to another party, a party that is one big spin produced by one or two PR men, who determine their slogans based on public surveys..."
The office of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu announced this morning that he had not issued a call to support Baruch Marzel's Hazit party. The announcement was made in response to a round of cellular phone messages stating the opposite.
The Central Elections Committee has confirmed to Arutz-7 that the votes of parties that do not receive the required minimum - expected to be between 60,000 and 65,000 - will not be distributed to other parties according to the Bader-Ofer method, but will be thrown out altogether.
The Hebrew NFC news site features last-day articles by the prime ministerial candidates. Excerpts:
Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu:
"The path of the Likud is that of Menachem Begin: to seek peace from a position of strength, not of weakness. I know that many of you agree with our path: to fight terror firmly, not to collapse with further withdrawals, and not to pave, with our own hands, the road to the establishment of an Iranian-influenced Hamas state in the heart of the land. And I therefore believe that at the moment of truth, when you stand behind the curtain, you will not vote for the dangerous collapse of Olmert and Peres.
"I don't mind so much if you vote for Lieberman, Shas and the National Union - our natural partners, because they know that without the Likud, the nationalist camp is finished... "
Kadima leader Ehud Olmert:
"This is your chance to say yes to a Jewish and democratic state, yes to stability, yes to normalcy... Previous generations built here a national home, and we are now called upon to stabilize it and guarantee the continued existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state with a clear Jewish majority... If our neighbors continue to miss chances for an arrangement, Israel will take its future into its own hands and will form its own character as a Jewish and democratic state... In the merit of the settlement enterprise, we will be able to preserve the large and significant Jewish settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, we will set the route of the security fence, we will keep the security areas and we will promise that Jewish communities will not remain behind the fence..."
Amir Peretz of Labor:
"There have never been clearer elections than these. You the voter are presented with two clear ways between which you must choose - that which Binyamin Netanyahu poses, or the way of Labor... Everything is clear: Whoever wants all of the Land of Israel and is willing to live by the sword his whole life, will vote for the right. Whoever refuses to give up his ambition for peace, together with warfare that knows no compromise against terrorism, will choose us.
"Whoever wants extreme free market economics in which people are slaves to the economy and the free market is a jungle in which only the strong win, will vote for Netanyahu. Whoever wants a market economy that serves man and sees man as the most important for growth, will vote for us...
"[Regarding Kadima], it is hard to fight against a party that has no path, platform, obligations or democratic institutions. It's a party that is a place of refuge for all those who were unable to get chosen to another party, a party that is one big spin produced by one or two PR men, who determine their slogans based on public surveys..."