With polling stations now closed, polls indicate Israel’s ruling Kadima Party has narrowly beaten its rivals in today's election and is on course to secure 29 of the 120 seats in the next parliament.
The centre-left Labour party is on course to win 22 seats against 14 for the far-right party Yisrael Beitenu and only 11 for the Likud party of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The general election was called by the former Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, before he suffered a stroke last January that has left him in a coma.
The elections have been described as a referendum on the future of the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
The interim Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, wants to establish permanent borders taking in some territory wanted by the Palestinians in any future Palestinian state.
Mr Olmert's centrist Kadima party was widely expected to win the largest number of seats in the 120-member parliament.
However, earlier the Haaretz newspaper reported that polling was the lowest in Israeli history.
