Israelis head to the polls

Around six million Israelis are eligible to take part in the vote to elect 120 deputies for the Knesset, or parliament, with polling stations opening at 7:00 a.m.
 
The ballot to choose Israel's 20th parliament came about after Netanyahu, 65, called snap elections late last year as his fractious coalition government teetered on the brink of collapse.
 
It will be Israel's third election since 2009 and the biggest challenge for Netanyahu, who is seeking a third consecutive term.
 
The veteran rightwing leader is not certain to come first in the vote, with the final opinion polls Friday giving the center-left Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog a 3-4 seat lead over Netanyahu.
 
But the surveys also show Netanyahu will have an advantage when it comes to piecing together a coalition with smaller allies from the right.
 
Netanyahu has warned a vote for Zionist Union could endanger Israel's security and lead to the division of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the annexed eastern sector.
 
On Monday he was asked by the rightwing NRG website if it was true that there would be no Palestinian state established if he was reelected.
 
"Indeed," said Netanyahu, who in 2009 had endorsed the idea of two states living side by side.
 
He later told public radio the two-state solution was now irrelevant, saying the "reality has changed" and "any territory which would be handed over would be taken over by radical Islamists."