The Latest: Gantz votes in Israel, calls for 'new dawn'

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on Israel's election (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

Israeli politicians are making the most of social media to campaign online until polls close at 10 p.m., with the main contenders taking to social media to appeal to citizens to vote as turnout flags.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filmed himself at the beach in Netanya on Tuesday and urged people to go vote or "wake up tomorrow to a leftist government." Benny Gantz, a former army chief of staff who seeks to unseat Netanyahu, shared a video in which he appears to assist a motorcyclist who was involved in a traffic accident.

Other politicians have urged Israelis to go vote, as voter turnout was lower than previous elections.

The current election regulations in Israel bar television and radio campaigning on election day, but not social media.

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7:15 p.m.

A prominent Israeli pollster says that Israel has never seen such a decline in Arab turnout, calling it "the biggest drama" facing the national election.

Camil Fuchs told Israel's Chanel 13 TV that exit polls revealed startling low turnout throughout the day.

Prominent Arab politicians took to social media to demand their constituents push back against ballot boycott calls that put their parties at risk of dropping below the parliamentary threshold.

Veteran lawmaker Ahmad Tibi called the low turnout "a real danger" to his party and the other Arab factions.

Arab citizens, representing nearly 20% of Israel's population, could help sway the vote. But many Arab citizens have pledged to boycott the election in protest of Netanyahu's divisive campaign tactics and legislation declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.

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5:55 p.m.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says "our hands remain extended in peace" on Israel's Election Day.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pandered to nationalist voters by vowing to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas said the Palestinian leadership hoped the outcome would help Israel "come to the negotiating table" and embark "on the right track to reach peace."

But Abbas stressed that Palestinians would reject peace brokered by U.S. President Trump's administration.

Trump's contentious policy changes, such as recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, have sidelined Palestinians, who seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital.

Netanyahu's challenger, Benny Gantz, has indicated he would not foreclose future peace negotiations.

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4:10 p.m.

Israel's elections committee has banned hidden cameras at polling stations following an Arab party's complaints that it observed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party deploying staffers who attempted to secretly surveil predominantly-Arab polling stations.

Israeli media reported Tuesday that Likud dispatched 1,200 observers in Arab polls. The Israeli daily Haaretz published videos showing activists caught with cameras by police, with one confessing Likud had sent him.

Police said they were working to "maintain public order" after "a number of suspected irregularities" in northern polls.

Arab parties lambasted the cameras as a ploy to depress their constituents' turnout.

The Likud party declined to comment, but when a reporter asked Netanyahu about the claims as he cast his ballot, he responded, "There should be cameras everywhere. Not hidden. It's important to ensure a legitimate vote."

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2:35 p.m.

Israel's election committee says midday voter turnout stands at 24.8% — or down 2 percentage points from the 2015 elections.

But the statistic may not be a prediction of the overall turnout as polling stations close at 10 p.m. on Tuesday and many anticipate a last-minute surge of voters heading to the polling stations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered increasingly impassioned pleas to voters to come out and support him as the day wore on. He took to Facebook in a steady stream of videos to rile his national base by warning if supporters failed to vote, they'd wake up to a "leftist" government led by his chief challenger Benny Gantz.

He says such a scenario is backed by a "secret deal" with Arab parties, which he often brands as his political foe.

Netanyahu has become known for divisive campaign tactics, which critics call racial incitement.

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1 p.m.

Popular centrist politician Yair Lapid has cast his ballot in Israel's elections for his Blue and White party, appealing on Israeli citizens to vote. Lapid had joined forces with former army chief Benny Gantz to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long rule.

Lapid voted near Tel Aviv on Tuesday surrounded by activists and supporters, claiming his party is "just a step away from victory."

He says: "We need two more seats to win these historic elections in Israel. A vote for any party except Blue and White is a vote for Netanyahu."

Lapid and Gantz, together with a slate of other ex-generals, formed the centrist Blue and White party in hopes of mobilizing opposition to Netanyahu, who faces serious corruption charges.

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12:10 p.m.

Israel's president and several other politicians have cast their ballots in the general election, offering messages to voters and urging for a good turnout.

President Reuven Rivlin will have the task to choose — after the election — a party leader most likely to forge a governing coalition.

He urged citizens to vote as he cast his ballot, saying "the only people who decide who will be the next government and prime minister are you."

New Right party leader, Naftali Bennett, asked voters not to be swayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign to pull votes from smaller rightist factions. Bennet says he wants "everyone to vote for the New Right" so that "Israel returns to winning."

Avi Gabbay, leader of the Labor party that was once Israel's left-wing flagship, told reporters he hopes Election Day "ends with the replacement of the government."

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11:40 a.m.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast his ballot in Israel's general elections.

Netanyahu voted on Tuesday in Jerusalem alongside his wife, Sara. He called on all Israelis to vote, calling it a "sacred act."

Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office despite a cloud of looming corruption indictments against him. Another term would make him Israel's longest-ever serving leader, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion.

He faces a stiff challenge from retired military chief Benny Gantz, whose Blue and White party has inched ahead of Netanyahu's Likud in polls. Netanyahu still appears to have the best chance of forming a coalition, though, with a smattering of small nationalist parties backing him.

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9:40 a.m.

Benny Gantz, the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's general elections, has cast his ballot, calling for a "new dawn" for the country.

Gantz voted early on Tuesday in his hometown of Rosh Haayin in central Israel alongside his wife, Revital. He called on all Israelis to get out and vote, saying they should "take responsibility" for their democracy.

He says that voting will "let us all wake up for a new dawn, a new history."

Gantz's Blue and White party has inched ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in polls. Netanyahu still appears to have the best chance of forming a coalition, though, with a smattering of small nationalist parties backing him.

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07:00 a.m.

Voting has begun in the Israeli elections as the country decides whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday with exit polls expected at the end of the voting day at 10 p.m. Official results are expected to come in overnight.

Clouded by a series of looming corruption indictments, Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office. It would make him Israel's longest-ever serving leader, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion.