Two exit polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union each with 27 seats in the Knesset. Another shows Likud with 28 and the Zionist Union with 27.
Much of the new building in the territory involves Jewish settlements. The Palestinians now have a new city, but the project has been slowed because until recently Israel did not allow a water hookup.
Palestinians are viewing Israeli elections with tremendous skepticism. After 20 years of on-and-off peace talks, a growing number have given up on a negotiated solution to the conflict.
In the 1990s, Israelis and Palestinians made temporary arrangements in the West Bank as they worked toward a peace deal. The talks are now in the deep freeze, but the arrangements are entrenched.
The women, running for the Israeli parliament, share little beyond that concern. One sees a two-state solution as hopeless and supports West Bank settlers. The other sees them as an obstacle to peace.
The U.S. secretary of state also said he will use talks Sunday in Switzerland to assure his interlocutors that a letter from GOP senators on the validity of a nuclear deal with Iran carries no weight.
Israelis and Palestinians have now been living cheek-and-jowl in the West Bank for decades. NPR's Steve Inskeep visited both communities to sample their views in this enduring conflict.
The keynote speaker at the demonstration in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square was given by ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who accused the prime minister of causing great "strategic damage" to Israel.
Israel is a small country with an extremely diverse population. NPR's Emily Harris spoke to five very different Israelis about their hopes for the election and the kind of country they want to see.