Israel votes in record numbers as Netanyahu faces tight race for premiership

Polling closed in Israel's Knesset election Tuesday with turnout near 75 percent, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a tight race against challenger Gadi Eisenkot.

• Israel's elections committee said it plans to announce official results Wednesday evening and that the outcome cannot be falsified.
• The Central Elections Committee rejected Netanyahu's request to extend voting hours, citing high turnout, but extended voting in Hebron until 10pm because of a power cut.
• Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change, said his goal is to bring down Netanyahu's government and enable a "less bad" one to form.
• Eisenkot, a former military chief, called on Israelis to vote out "the worst government Israel has known."
• Exit polls showed no clear winner, with Eisenkot's change bloc projected to win 52–53 seats against 50 for Netanyahu's camp.
• President Isaac Herzog was expected to task Eisenkot with forming the next government, and Eisenkot said he would implement the people's decision.
• Turnout reached 74.3 percent by 8 PM, the highest at that hour since 1988, with final turnout projected at 78.3 percent.
• Opposition leaders Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, and Yair Golan declared that Netanyahu's coalition suffered a heavy defeat.
• Netanyahu told close associates he would seek to form the next government, calling a left-Arab coalition a 'terror government.'