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NEW YORK: As Israelis vote on Tuesday in their fifth parliamentary election in less than four years, former PM Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to return to power, but polls are predicting another deadlock.
Once again, voters are choosing between a right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu and the governing alliance of rightwing, left-wing and centrist parties, led by PM Yair Lapid, that share little beyond their opposition to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is currently standing trial on corruption charges, and his fitness for office remains a central question of Israeli politics. For the fifth election in a row, Israelis are roughly evenly divided between his critics, who feel that he should stay out of office until the end of his trial, and his supporters, who see his trial as a politically motivated sham.
Beyond Netanyahu, the election is also a referendum on the kind of society Israelis want to have. His opponents see the vote as a litmus test for Israel’s liberal democracy. His allies portray it as a chance to underscore the country’s Jewish character. “If you don’t go out to vote, we’ll again crown Lapid, Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday, referring to two Arab lawmakers whose support Lapid may need to stay in power.
Lapid urged the electorate to “vote wisely. ” “Vote for the state of Israel, the future of our children and our future in general,” he said as he cast a ballot in Tel Aviv.
Polls have predicted a stalemate. But a new player is threatening to shake things up. Itamar Ben-Gvir, a leading farright politician, has surged in opinion polls recently and will be seeking a harder line against the Palestinians if he helps propel Netanyahu to victory. After he cast his vote, Ben-Gvir promised that a vote for his party would bring about a “fully right-wing government” with Netanyahu as PM.
ANetanyahu victory would reassure certain right-wing Jewish Israelis who argue that the involvement of an Arab party in the departing government threatened the country’s Jewish identity and made the government less able to take action against militants.
In Israel’s fragmented politics, no single party has ever won a parliamentary majority. Netanyahu’s most likely path to the premiership requires an alliance with extremist ultra-nationalists and religious ultra-Orthodox parties.
The ultranationalist Religious Zionism party, whose top candidate Ben-Gvir wants to deport Arab legislators and is adisciple of a racist rabbi who was assassinated, has promised to support legislation that would alter the legal code, weaken the judiciary and could help Netanyahu evade a conviction. Ben-Gvir, promising a tougher line against Palestinian attackers, announced hewould seek the cabinet post overseeing the police force.
Netanyahu’s Likud party said any changes to the legal code won’t apply to Netanyahu’s case and that the extremist elements of his potential coalition will be reined in.
Both blocs might fall short of a majority in 120-seat parliament. That could force another election in early 2023 and keep Lapid in charge as a caretaker leader. Election officials said that by 6 pm local time turnout stood at 57. 7%, the highest at that time since 1999, suggesting that voters remain motivated despite the repeat elections. Parties must secure more than 3. 25% of the vote to enter parliament. Polling suggests that many Arab voters will stay away from the polls. That could mean that Raam, an Arab party, may struggle to breach the required threshold, making it harder for Lapid’s bloc to win a majority. No government is expected to revive negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.



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