1742 GMT: Netanyahu's Likud party is sounding nervous.
An Israeli man casts his vote at a polling station in Jerusalem on January 22, 2013. Israelis are voting on Tuesday in an election seen returning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power with a rightwing coalition charged with tackling the key issues of peace talks and Iran's nuclear drive.
Israeli media are quoting Netanyahu himself as saying at a polling station: "Reports are showing that voter turnout is lower than average in areas that traditionally support Likud."
But Barak Ravid, diplomatic correspondent at Haaretz newspaper, thinks this may be a ploy.
"The nervous messages Likud officials are getting out might be a spin to urge their supporters to go and vote," he has tweeted.
1735 GMT: In Jerusalem's trendy Germany Colony neighbourhood, a 32-year-old teacher tells our reporter she'll be voting for hardliner Naftali Bennett.
"We are so tired of Netanyahu," says the mother-of-three, while she prefers Bennett because he is "strong but not extreme".
"Young families like us can relate to him," the teacher adds.
She is not alone. Bennett's rise has been the big surprise of this campaign period. His Jewish Home party opposes Palestinian statehood and backs annexing about 60 percent of the West Bank.
WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on Israel's general election, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to return to power but to assemble a new coalition that will take a swing to the right.
Amid unseasonably warm weather, Israelis are still voting at the more than 10,000 polling stations around the country.
Polling stations close at around 2000 GMT and we're expecting the first exit polls shortly afterwards.
Opinion polling ahead of the vote predicted an easy win for a joint list bringing Netanyahu's Likud party together with the hardline nationalists of Yisrael Beitenu -- but the pairing was only expected to score 32 seats in the 12-seat Knesset.
Factors including a weaker Likud and the rise of 40-year-old Naftali Bennett -- the charismatic leader of the far-right Jewish Home party -- have led to expectations of a more right-wing government.
Such a government will be less likely to seek a peace deal with the Palestinians and could lead to more diplomatic isolation for Israel. It will also have to tackle domestic issues including a budget crisis and anger over spiralling prices.
Stay with us for regular updates.
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