Israel elects its next Knesset on March 17, 2015. Pictured: party ballots from 2013. Source: Danny Zelazo on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Only hours before the polls open in Israel this morning, March 17, 2015, for the 20th election of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), the major candidates for prime minister are still making game-changing announcements. Sitting Prime Minister Binyamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu declared: “I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuates areas is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel.” Adding, “If [political opponents] Tzipi [Livni] and Buji [Isaac Herzog] set up the next government, Hamastan 2 will be established on these hills.” Netanyahu's Likud (“Consolidation”) party campaign sticker likewise proclaims, “It's us or them” (“זה אנחנו או הם”). Netanyahu's election sticker: “It's us or them. Only the Likud [Party]. Only Netanyahu.” Within hours, Tzipi Livni, the top seat of the HaTnua (“Movement”) Party and a leading member of the joint electoral coalition, the Zionist Union, announced she would relinquish her plans with partner Isaac (“Buji”) Herzog to hold a joint prime ministerial seat in which Herzog would serve the first two years and Livni would assume the seat thereafter. The decision to remove the shared seat option was intended to eliminate controversy, swaying swing voters in the final hours of decision making. On citizen media, Yair Zivan noted that not all politicians spent the last hours of the campaign focused on the overarching issues. He cited Yesh Atid's (“There is a Future”) top candidate Yair Lapid, who prioritized personalized voter communication. 24 hours before polls close and @LapidAtid is answering questions from voters on his Facebook page. Over 1500 comments in 20mins #Israelex — Yair_Zivan (@Yair_Zivan) March 16, 2015 Responding to recent events, Yair Rosenberg tweeted: What I love about Israel's elections: unlike America's, there's still the magic of surprise on the day, as polls can't tell us who'll win. — Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 16, 2015 Avi Mayer, one of the Israeli blogosphere's most vocal advocates, echoed: With 11 hours to go until polls open here in Israel, the parties are still fighting for every vote. Exhilarating and exhausting. #IsraElex — Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) March 16, 2015 On December 8, 2014, the Israeli Knesset voted to dissolve the sitting government and schedule new parliamentary elections. Parties running for election range from far left to extreme right, from a joint Arab party ticket to the religious conservatives, Shas. Each party must reach a threshold of 3.25 per cent of the vote — a controversial move that limits representation of the smaller parties in the Knesset. Google Israel's Election Day doodle illustrates the ballot box. (Source: March 17, 2015.) This short, friendly video provides a comprehensive overview of the process. Every citizen over the age of 18 has the right to vote. Election Day is a national holiday, free from work and school, and all you need to do to vote is show up at your polling place with your national identification card. (If you don't remember where you voted last, go to this website and enter your ID number; Hebrew). Unlike other countries, no pre-registration is required. The 11,000 polling stations around the country are open from 7 am until 10 pm. Israelis vote by selecting a paper ballot with their chosen party's name from a tray, placing the ballot in an envelope, which they seal and insert into a locked box. An election oversight committee is present in the voting room should any questions arise. Only one person can enter the room at a time and voting is done behind a screen or curtain to ensure privacy. This is the first year that Arab parties will run on a united platform. Known as the Joint List, Balad, Hadash, Ta'al, and the United Arab List agreed to combine agendas to ensure they would reach the voting threshold, maximizing their Knesset representation and limiting the ability of Netanyahu's Likud party to form a parliamentary coalition. They are expected to reap a maximum of 15 seats. Left-wing journalist Noam Sheizaf opines: Dream scenario tomorrow: Joint List wins 15 seats & due 2 rising participation, Liberman stays out of the Knesset #IsraelElections — noam sheizaf (@nsheizaf) March 16, 2015 Avigdor Lieberman is the founder and head of the “ultra-nationalist” Israel Beiteinu (“Our Home”) party and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs.