Israel's Central Election Committee has started counting ballots following the third elections in less than a year as the two rivals, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former armed forces chief Benny Gantz were unable to form a coalition government.
The official turnout is expected to be announced later, but by noon it had reached nearly 28 per cent - the highest at this stage in two decades.
Amid the global spread of the coronavirus, those who returned to Israel from virus-hit countries such as Italy and China voted at special polling stations wearing surgical masks.
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