Netanyahu on Election: 'We Can Close the Gap!'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel's soldiers have already begun to vote in a crucial election to choose the country's next prime minister.

Balloting for the rest of Israel begins Tuesday, and final polls show Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party trailing a union of leftist parties.

But the prime minister rallied a crowd estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 supporters in Tel Aviv Sunday, telling them they can turn it around.

Last week, tens of thousands of mostly secular leftists packed into Tel Aviv's Rabin Square for an "Anyone but Bibi" protest.

But on Sunday, Bibi himself addressed an even bigger crowd. He warned that a leftist win would be dangerous for Israel and urged his people to get out the vote.

"This is a fateful struggle, a close struggle," Netanyahu told an enthusiastic crowd. "We must close this gap. We CAN close this gap!"

A little more than a week ago, Netanyahu made a surprise visit to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market. These are Bibi's people, strong on national security. He'll need a big turnout from supporters around the country to stay in office.

Asked "who are you supporting in the elections and why," an Israeli named Itzik responded, "I think Bibi, Likud, because he's the best I know."

A shopkeeper named Chen told CBN News, "Bibi -- because he take[s] care of the civilians, of the security in the country. We need to take care of the children, all of the families. What can we do?"

Labor Party leader Isaac (Yitzhak) Herzog visited the Western Wall Sunday, the holiest site in Judaism. His Zionist Union coalition holds a four-seat lead over Likud. But Israel is still a center-right country and Likud would have to take a shellacking for Herzog to get first chance at forming the next government.

At the Netanyahu rally, observers say the biggest boos were against the foreign money coming into a group called V-15, which funded a leftist get-out-the-vote drive.

Fox News reports that the U.S. Senate will investigate the State Department. Lawmakers want to know if money for V-15 was improperly or illegally routed to defeat the Netanyahu coalition through a group called One Voice.

V-15 co-founder Itamar Weizman talked to CBN News last month about the effort.

"Our whole purpose is to go door to door and call voters and pledge people not to vote for Netanyahu," Weizman said.

Soldiers at an army base in southern Israel cast their ballots Sunday, a sign that the bitter campaign is almost over. Millions more Israelis will head to the polls until they close on Tuesday night.