Voters return to polls amid forecasts of tight race in Israel election

A woman votes in Israel’s election (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

Israelis have begun voting in the country’s fourth parliamentary election in two years – a highly charged referendum on the divisive rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Public opinion polls forecast a tight race between those who support Israel’s longest-serving premier and those who want “anyone but Bibi”, as he is widely known.