Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah cast their votes at a voting station in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party are facing voters for the second time in just five months in an unprecedented contest that has the potential to end Netanyahu's decade-long grip on power.
Months of political limbo followed the previous election in April that saw Likud and the centrist Blue and White party each win 35 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.
Netanyahu engaged in an ultimately futile scramble to secure enough allies among smaller parties to form a governing coalition. Rather than allow Blue and White an opportunity to form a government, Netanyahu called for new elections.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) at more than 11,000 polling stations. A total of 31 parties are contesting the elections, though only about 10 are likely to reach the threshold to win seats in the Knesset.
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz and his wife Revital leave a polling station in Rosh Haayin, Israel, on Tuesday.
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Opinion polls ahead of Tuesday's vote showed the race between Netanyahu's Likud and Blue and White, led by former army chief Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, once again a dead heat.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has been dogged by multiple corruption cases charging alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust. It is widely believed that if he manages to win a working majority Netanyahu will use it to pass a law granting him immunity for crimes committed in office. Netanyahu himself has repeatedly denied such a plan, labeling it as "false media spin."
When it comes to security issues the political differences between Likud and Blue and White are narrow, with both sides taking a similarly hard line on the regional struggle against Iran and relations with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu has pledged to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, where Palestinians are seeking a separate state. Meanwhile, Blue and White says it wants to strengthen Jewish settlement in the West Bank and calls the Jordan Valley Israel's "eastern security border."
The parties do differ on domestic issues, particularly whether to include ultra-Orthodox religious parties in a governing coalition. Gantz rules it out, leading to speculation he may form a secular coalition with Likud - but without Netanyahu.
I had a call today with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of moving forward with a Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Israel, that would further anchor the tremendous alliance....
Netanyahu has sought to use his close relationship with President Trump to political advantage and some versions of campaign posters feature a photograph of Netanyahu and Trump shaking hands and grinning.
Just days ago, Trump also dangled the possibility of a U.S.-Israel mutual defense treaty — a move that seemed timed for the election — tweeting that he and Netanyahu could move forward with a treaty to "further anchor the tremendous alliance between our two countries."
In an appeal to voters, Netanyahu, writing in the Maariv newspaper on Monday, said Israelis find themselves "at the high point of an historic change in the history of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
"I am asking now for your confidence in order to complete the historic task and fortify the State of Israel's borders and security forever," he said.
TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fighting for his political life as the country headed to the polls in an unprecedented do-over election on Tuesday morning.
The embattled leader spent the days leading up to the vote unveiling hard-line campaign pledges in a last-ditch attempt to win over right-wing voters and to draw attention away from his potential indictment in three corruption cases.
Ultra orthodox Jews line up to vote in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019.Oded Balilty / AP
His right-wing Likud party is currently running neck-and-neck in the polls with the centrist Blue and White party — with both predicted to win around 32 seats in the 120 seat parliament, according to Haaretz newspaper's poll of polls. Both parties could struggle to form a majority coalition with like-minded partners — potentially delivering another inconclusive result less than six months after the last one.
The majority of polls opened Tuesday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight Monday ET) and will close at 10 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) with exit polls expected to be published by the major Israeli broadcasters shortly afterwards. Official final counts won’t be available for days but a picture of the result should become clear on Wednesday.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday local time (3 a.m. ET) the voting rate was the highest in over 30 years with some 15 percent of voters having cast their ballot, according to Israel’s central election committee.
"President Trump said yesterday that these elections are close. I can tell you this morning they are very close. I call on all Israeli citizens to come and vote, like my wife and I have," Netanyahu said Tuesday as he and his wife Sara cast their vote at a high school in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and his wife Sara casts their votes during Israel's parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem Sept. 17, 2019.Heidi Levine / Reuters
Netanyahu's main opponent, the leader of the Blue and White party former army chief of staff Benny Gantz, said Tuesday that a vote for his party was a vote for change.
"Today, we are voting for change. We will succeed in bringing hope, all of us together, without corruption and without extremism," he said, in a thinly-veiled swipe at Netanyahu's legal woes.
Many agree that this election boils down to a referendum on Netanyahu’s time in power. This summer he became the country's longest serving prime minister, surpassing Israel’s founding-father David Ben-Gurion.
“This election is about the same thing that every election in Israel has been about for the last 25 years. Two words: Benjamin Netanyahu,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Tuesday’s re-run election follows an indecisive vote in April in which the Likud and Blue and White party captured 35 seats each. President Reuven Rivlin then asked Netanyahu to try to form a government after consulting with party leaders to see which candidate would have the best chance to cobble together a coalition. But the prime minister fell short of the 61 seats needed to govern by one, after his former ally Avigdor Lieberman refused to join his coalition because he was opposed to the influence of ultra-Orthodox religious parties.
Beyond the political career of Netanyahu, the election will also decide the future of Israel.
“Likud and Prime Minister Netanyahu propose to continue the path we’ve been on for the last decade,” said Nir Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem and member of the Likud party. “Which is to expand international relationships, to increase our security, and naturally our economy is blossoming in the last decade.”
Israeli lawyer Daniel Seidemann, who focuses on geopolitical issues in Jerusalem, said the election was the most decisive in Israel’s history.
At stake was whether Israel would “remain in the orbit of liberal democracies of Western Europe and the United States or will it pivot in authoritarian directions and become a personality cult of Netanyahu,” he said.
An election campaign billboard shows the Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, in the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, northern Israel. The Arab writing says, " I commit to work for you."Ariel Schalit / AP
He also revealed that Israel had discovered a secret nuclear weapons development site in central Iran in an attempt to present himself as Mr. Security. And has also traded on his relationships with President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, he claimed that the Trump administration’s peace plan would likely be published shortly after the election.
A member of the Israeli Druze community leaves after casting her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on Sept. 17, 2019, in Daliyat al-karmel in northern Israel.Jalaa Marey / AFP - Getty Images
But it’s unclear whether the announcements will be enough to get Netanyahu across the line.
“He’s almost a magician. He’s constantly been able to put his hand into a hat and pull out a rabbit, over the last two weeks he’s been putting his hand into the hat and pulling out a dead squirrel,” said Seidemann. “Whether that will have enough impact to prevent his re-election only time will tell.”
One major challenge facing Netanyahu is that he is fighting for re-election under a cloud of expected corruption charges, that have painted him as a hedonist with a penchant for expensive gifts. Israel’s attorney general is expected to decide whether to formally charge the prime minister by the end of 2019 after a pre-trial hearing in October.
"Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is weakened and even wounded," said Oren, the former ambassador to the U.S. “This election for Benjamin Netanyahu is not about politics it’s about survival."
There have been some stumbling blocks on the campaign trail too. At an election rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday, supporters chanted Netanyahu's name but the prime minister ultimately failed to show up, sparking speculation as to the reason for his no-show.
The poor political optics came less than a week after Netanyahu was rushed off stage at another rally when sirens rang-out warning of a rocket attack from Gaza — a sight that provided election fodder for his rivals.
If the election produces a deadlock once again, one option for Netanyahu would be to attempt to form a national unity government with the Blue and White party. But Gantz has previously said that he would not join a government with Netanyahu because of the possible corruption indictments against him.
Netanyahu, who is seeking a fifth-term in office, is unlikely to agree to serve under any other government.
But Seidemann said it was too early to rule Netanyahu out.
“Netanyahu is a cat with nine lines he’s already used 17 of them I wouldn’t take any bets on his political longevity,” he said.
Neely, Goldman and Jabari reported from Tel Aviv and Smith from London.
Saphora Smith
Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital.
Bill Neely
Bill Neely is NBC News' chief global correspondent. He joined NBC News from Britain’s ITV News in January 2014. His reports from across the globe have earned many awards, including an unprecedented three consecutive BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, for his work in China, Haiti, and the U.K.
Associated Press, Reuters, Lawahez Jabari and Paul Goldman contributed.
Iran will never hold talks with America, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on state television Tuesday morning, effectively killing chances for a rapprochement some had anticipated between leaders of both countries during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings taking place this week and next.
"Iranian officials will never talk to America .... this is part of their (U.S.) policy to put pressure on Iran ... their policy of maximum pressure will fail," Khamenei said.
Khamenei's words come ahead of the high level meetings at the UNGA scheduled for next week,and amid fresh acrimony between Washington and Tehran following major attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure that U.S. officials have blamed on Iran. The attacks on Saudi Aramco's massive Abqaiq and Khurais plants, which was claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, forced the state oil giant to shut down half of its production, sending oil prices up by double digits.
Pompeo on Sunday took to Twitter to squarely blame the Iranians, writing, "Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply." Iranian officials rejected the charge as "meaningless" and "pointless."
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has appeared reticent to draw as decisive a conclusion, saying on Monday that he's in no rush to respond to the attacks.
"It's certainly looking that way at this point," Trump said, speaking on whether Iran was responsible for the attacks. "I don't want war with anybody but we are prepared more than anybody ... We have a lot of options but we are not looking at options right now."
"That was a very large attack and it could be met with an attack many, many times larger very easily by our country, but we are going to find out who definitively did it first," he said.
A Saudi-led military coalition said the attack was carried out by "Iranian weapons" and did not originate from Yemen.
Talks without preconditions or no talks at all?
Speculation surrounding talks between the adversarial states began when Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with European diplomats at the G7 summit in France in late August, reportedly as part of a French government attempt to facilitate communication between the two.
Trump has voiced his willingness to talk with the Iranians several times, but Iranian officials have demanded that sanctions be lifted first. The sanctions Washington imposed on Iran beginning last year have crippled its oil exports and much of its economy, sending inflation as high as 50% this year.
But previous U.S. offers of talks without preconditions were sharply rescinded in the wake of Saturday's attacks on Saudi Arabia's largest oil facilities, with Trump writing on Twitter that previous reports on the matter were incorrect.
With the departure of Trump's hawkish national security adviser John Bolton on September 10, Iran was reportedly expecting the U.S. to lift some sanctions to allow a meeting between leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA.
Instead, positions have hardened in the wake of Saturday's attack on Saudi Arabia and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's blaming of Iran. Trump walked back back from his prior promise of talks without preconditions, saying during a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's crown prince on Monday that there must be preconditions now.
"Well, you know, there were always conditions, because the conditions — if you look at it, the sanctions are not going to be taken off. So if the sanctions — that's a condition," Trump said.
Iran was the staging ground for the weekend attacks on the massive Saudi Arabia oil field, according to U.S. intelligence that was shared with the kingdom, a report said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that the intelligence report—that was not shared publicly—indicated that Iran raided the massive oil field with at least a dozen missiles and 20 drones.
The State Department did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News on Tuesday morning. The Journal's report said that a Saudi official indicated that the U.S. intelligence was not definitive. The official told the paper that the U.S. did not provide enough evidence to prove without a doubt that Tehran’s hand was involved.
President Trump has said the U.S. is “locked and loaded” and able to respond to the threat but also said he wants to avoid war. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack. Ahead of UN meeting, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "there will be no talks with the US at any level," the Associated Press reported.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, sparking huge fires and halting about half of the supplies from the world's largest exporter of oil. The attack was seen by some analysts as a Pearl Harbor-like event.
The fires led to the interruption of an estimated 5.7 million barrels in crude supplies, as Saudi officials said part of that would be offset with stockpiles.
Some analysis here from CNN correspondents on the ground in Saudi Arabia and Iran:
Saturday's attacks strike "at the heart of the country's lifeblood and the basis of its economy," says CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, from Riyadh.
The 19 strikes at two facilities were the result of "very clear and careful precision and planning," he adds
Saudi Arabia is now expected to offset the impact of these attacks through their reserve oil capacity (200 million barrels) in Europe, China and Japan.
Meanwhile in Tehran, CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, points out that Saudi Arabia haven't yet come out to blame anyone.
And as for the Houthi rebel's claim of using drones, he adds: "They'd have to have flown across hundreds of miles of Saudi Arabia through US-supplied air defenses to hit those refineries."
Even after many months of the US and allies Saudi Arabia, and Iran, "winding each other up," we've seen "nothing on the scale of these attacks," says Paton Walsh.
"The real fear is we're in such uncharted territory, with such a perceived vacuum in the security establishment within the White House, we simply don't know what may come next," he adds.
Some analysis here from CNN correspondents on the ground in Saudi Arabia and Iran:
Saturday's attacks strike "at the heart of the country's lifeblood and the basis of its economy," says CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, from Riyadh.
The 19 strikes at two facilities were the result of "very clear and careful precision and planning," he adds
Saudi Arabia is now expected to offset the impact of these attacks through their reserve oil capacity (200 million barrels) in Europe, China and Japan.
Meanwhile in Tehran, CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, points out that Saudi Arabia haven't yet come out to blame anyone.
And as for the Houthi rebel's claim of using drones, he adds: "They'd have to have flown across hundreds of miles of Saudi Arabia through US-supplied air defenses to hit those refineries."
Even after many months of the US and allies Saudi Arabia, and Iran, "winding each other up," we've seen "nothing on the scale of these attacks," says Paton Walsh.
"The real fear is we're in such uncharted territory, with such a perceived vacuum in the security establishment within the White House, we simply don't know what may come next," he adds.
