Netanyahu attacks the Arab parties... and Eisenkot describes his government as worse

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While it is expected that the legislative elections currently taking place in Israel will determine the fate of his rule, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Arab parties in Israel, warning that they are “trying to steal the elections.”

Netanyahu said on Tuesday, after casting his vote, that three prominent officials in an Israeli Arab party were arrested in the south of the country, and they were in possession of envelopes full of money.

But electoral authorities explained that these people “had not yet arrived at the polling stations,” that they were arrested near their homes, and that the case is still under investigation.

As for the Central Elections Commission, it confirmed that “this is a case limited to a specific area,” according to what Agence France-Presse reported.

Netanyahu faces a group of parties seeking to overthrow the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.

Meanwhile, opinion polls showed a close competition between him and his main rival, former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who described his government as the worst ever. Eisenkot urged voters to work to overthrow what he considered "the worst government" in Israel's history. The leader of the "Yashar" or "Mustaqim" party said, "I call on all citizens of Israel to go to vote, not to yield to pressure or unrest, and to stick to the goal, to change the worst government since the establishment of the state, tonight."

Moreover, more than 7 million people are entitled to cast their votes.

Preliminary data issued by the Central Elections Commission reported earlier today that about 17% of voters cast their votes during the first three hours of voting, which is the highest participation rate recorded at this time since 1981.

While Al Arabiya / Al Hadath correspondent confirmed that the participation rate in the Israeli elections is the highest in 50 years.

While a number of observers expected the possibility of extending voting until after ten o’clock at night local time, given the high turnout at the ballot boxes.