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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Polls have been closed in Israel's parliamentary elections, with exit polls showing Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the centre-left Zionist Union in a virtual deadlock.

Israel's Channel 1 and Channel 10 exit poll gave Likud and Zionist Union 27 seats each in the 120-member parliament. Meanwhile, Channel 2's exit polls put Likud at 28 seats and the Zionist Union at 27 seats.

Final results were not expected until early on Wednesday morning.

About six million Israelis were eligible to take part in the vote on Tuesday.

As of 6pm local time, voter turnout was at 54.6 percent, slightly less than during the 2013 elections,according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Israel's electoral authorities blocked the broadcast of a press conference earlier on Tuesday by Netanyahu as voters went to the polls, saying that "propaganda" was banned on election day.

In response to an appeal by Netanyahu's rivals, Salim Jubran, Central Elections Committee chairman, said that electoral law forbids the airing of "propaganda on TV and radio channels".

Netanyahu responded furiously in a video posted on Facebook.

"All the politicians are speaking to the press today ... and it was blatant election propaganda," he said.
National elections are held every four years, unless Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, votes to dissolve the government and hold new elections.

In early December, Netanyahu fired Tzipi Livni, the justice minister, and Yair Lapid, the finance minister, and announced elections for the 20th Knesset.

*Agencies