The national elections in Israel that are to determine the composition of the new parliament, the Knesset and of the government to be established based on the election results, have already begun.
Some 5,881,696 million eligible voters started heading to the polls to cast their ballots and to determine the future direction of their country, SputnikNews.com reports.
The two main rivals are the largest parties – Likud, headed by current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the opposition Zionist Union, led by Isaac Herzog.
According to the recent polls there is ground to assume that ruling Likud Party of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may lose the election to the Zionist Union, a center-left political alliance of the Israeli Labor Party and Hantuah.
Israel is a parliamentary democracy, according to which Prime Minister, who heads Israel’s government, is chosen from among the members of the newly-elected Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
According to the law, 120 Knesset seats will be assigned in proportion to each party's percentage o gained total vote. The minimum required threshold for a party to be represented in the Knesset is currently 3.25 percent of the total votes cast.