Jerusalem: Polling stations opened to Israeli voters on Tuesday for an election of a new government that could withdraw borders.
Voting booths opened at 7am (6am UAE time) and will close at 10pm (9pm UAE time).
The turnout in Israel's election was at an historically low level of 47 per cent yesterday after 11 hours of voting, according to the central election commission.
The figure was lagging five percentage points behind the corresponding stage in the last election in 2003, itself setting a record low.
There was widespread pre-poll fears that overall turnout would be markedly lower than usual.
Fearing the low turnout could hamper its chances to win a decisive result, the ruling Kadima party sent tens of thousands of mobile phone text messages and e-mails urging people to flock to the voting stations.
Many see the election as a referendum on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank while strengthening larger enclaves if peace efforts with Palestinians go nowhere.
He said the plan would help "preserve Israel as a Jewish state with a stable Jewish majority while separating from the Palestinians".
Palestinians have said such steps would deny them the viable state they seek in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and effectively annex territory.
Meanwhile, Olmert's centrist Kadima party is expected to win the most seats, around 34 in the 120-member parliament, the latest opinion polls showed.
Election Day is a state holiday in Israel, where many of the 8,276 polling stations serving 4.5 million voters are set up in schools.
Instead of voting for candidates, Israelis vote for parties, and the parliament is divided up among them in proportion to the number of votes they get.
About a dozen parties were expected to pass the 2 percent minimum threshold and enter the new parliament.
