Israel's three main TV stations predicted that acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima Party would win Tuesday's election but would get fewer seats than expected.

The polls indicated that Kadima, founded by Ariel Sharon before his debilitating stroke, would not be able to rule on its own and would need partners to form a center-left coalition. The party has said it would act on its own if necessary to establish Israel's final borders by 2010.

In Gaza, Hamas said it would resist Olmert's plan to draw the borders.

The Labor Party, which favors a negotiated settlement with the Arabs, came in a strong second.

The hard-line Likud, which dominated Israeli politics for three decades and opposes Olmert's plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank, came in a distant third, according to polls broadcast immediately after voting ended.

The surprise of the evening was the strong showing by two parties that had been considered marginal.

The hard-line Israel Beitenu Party of Avigdor Lieberman, who advocates redrawing Israel's borders to exclude Israeli Arabs, was expected to win 12-14 seats, making it the third-largest party in parliament. Opinion polls predicted Lieberman's party would win 10-15 seats.

Lieberman was the chief aide to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His party has two representatives in the current Knesset.

The Pensioners' Party, not represented in the current parliament, was expected to win 6-8 seats, and Kadima officials said the party was a natural coalition partner.

According to the TV projections, Kadima would win 29-32 seats in the 120-member parliament, Labor 20-22 seats and Likud 11-12 seats. Recent opinion polls showed Kadima winning 34 seats.

Analysts had said it would be a clear victory for Kadima if it won more than 35 seats.

The final turnout figures were not immediately available. However, throughout the day, the turnout lagged behind that of previous elections.

A low turnout was seen as hurting Kadima and favoring small, ideological parties.

yahoonews.com