Israeli politicians made their final campaign pitches before the divided country on Tuesday as it holds its fifth election in less than four years, with hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu eyeing a comeback.
The 73-year-old Likud party leader served as prime minister for longer than anyone in Israel’s history before he was ousted in June 2021 by an ideologically-divided coalition forged by the current caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
That motley alliance lasted only one year, triggering Tuesday’s vote, which will see Netanyahu and his allies try to secure the 61-seat parliamentary majority in the 120-seat Knesset that has repeatedly eluded them.
The final pre-election polls, released Friday, underscored that Israel remains mired in an unprecedented era of political deadlock.
The so-called “Netanyahu bloc” was predicted to take 60 seats in three surveys, from Israel’s Channel 12, Channel 13 and the Kan network.
The polls suggested 56 seats for anti-Netanyahu parties and four seats for an alliance of Arab-led parties that is not expected to back any Israeli government.
If the vote breaks along those lines, with neither camp reaching 61 seats, Israel could potentially be headed for an astonishing sixth election within months..
Nearly 6.8 million Israelis are registered to vote, up 210,000 from the last election in March 2021, but voter apathy, especially among many Arab citizens, and rain forecasts have fuelled concerns about low turnout.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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