Close to 6 million people can vote in Israel's tight election Tuesday, and turnout has been high, with voters waiting in long lines to cast their ballots. More than 1,200 candidates are taking part, representing 26 parties — with Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Isaac Herzog's center-left Labor party leading the pack. But no party has ever won an outright majority in the 120-member parliament, and it typically takes weeks of negotiations after the polls close to form governing coalitions. The impact of the election, whatever its result, will be huge: Herzog has promised to mend strained relations with the United States and Palestine, while Netanyahu swore in a last-minute campaign pledge not to allow the creation of a Palestinian state, as the U.S. wants.
