(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his ballot on Tuesday (January 22) as Israelis began voting in an election widely expected to win him a third term in office.<br/> <br />Polls predict Netanyahu's Likud party, which has forged an electoral pact with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, will take the most seats in the parliamentary election, albeit considerably fewer than they had originally hoped.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING:<br/> <br />"We want Israel to succeed, we vote Likud-Beitenu. That's why. The bigger it is, the more Israel will succeed, and my entire family concurs with me completely."<br/> <br />Netanyahu has vowed to pursue the settlement of lands seized during the 1967 Middle East war if he stays in power, a policy that would put him at odds with his international partners and worsen already tense ties with U.S. President Barack Obama.<br/> <br />No Israeli party has ever secured an absolute majority, meaning that Netanyahu, will have to bring various allies onboard to control the 120-seat Knesset.<br/> <br />The former commando has traditionally looked to religious, conservative parties for backing and is widely expected to reach out to the surprise star of the campaign, self-made millionaire Naftali Bennett who heads the far-right Jewish Home party.
