JERUSALEM:Â Israelis trickled into polling stations on Tuesday to vote in elections expected to return Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power at the head of a government of hardline rightwing and religious parties, reports AFP.
A handful of voters were already queuing up as stations opened at 0500 GMT, waiting to mark their ballots in blue voting booths, though many Israelis were taking advantage of the election day public holiday to sleep in.
Netanyahu was out early, casting his ballot with his wife Sara and their two sons at a polling station in the upscale Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem, where the prime minister’s official residence is located.
The prime minister, after casting his ballot said he hoped for “a flood of votes” for his rightwing joint Likud-Beitenu bloc, Israeli media reported.
Also among those out early in the unseasonably warm weather was Joe Jamal, 55, voting in the central Jerusalem neighbourhood of Katamon.
