US president says Israeli PM is only candidate who won't leave Washington alone in fight against Iran; PM urges voters to heed president's words and vote for him; Eisenkot and Bennett say only Israeli voters will decide

Demonstrators choke off Route 4 for two hours during peak traffic, scuffle with drivers, until police use stun grenades, force to clear them away; no injuries or arrests reported

PM says remarks by pundit Yinon Magal, widely seen as a Netanyahu mouthpiece, 'highly inappropriate,' asserts incorrectly that businesswoman called Likud supporters chimpanzees and baboons

38 parties are competing for 120 seats in the Knesset; only about 11 of them are expected to enter parliament, and then one candidate needs to pull together a viable coalition

Yashar party likens remark to infamous 1981 'chah’chahim' speech that insulted Likud voters; Yinon Magal says he used the term to mean a puppet controlled by others, not as racist jab