Israelis cast vote as Netanyahu seeks record fifth term in office
● Long-time leader behind challenger in polls as scandals lead to voter fatigue
have voted to decide whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office after a decade in power, with exit polls last night indicating the election race was too close to call.
Ballots were cast yesterday in a national election that has become a referendum of sorts on Israel’s long-time leader.
Channels 12 and Kan TV last night gave the Blue and White party, headed by former military chief Benny Gantz, a narrow lead over Mr Netanyahu’s Likud, while Channel 10 TV showed them in a tie.
The channels also gave different breakdowns for possible coalitions, with two stations giving Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc a slight parliamentary majority, while another had them tied at 60 seats apiece.
With neither side having a clear advantage, the leaders were forced to wait for official results to come in overnight.
Clouded by a series of looming corruption indictments, Mr Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive and a fifth overall term in office.
If victorious, he would become Israel’s longest-ever serving leader, surpassing founding father David Bengurion.
Mr Netanyahu appears to have the best chance of forming a coalition, with a smattering of small nationalist parties backing him. Mr Gantz voted in his hometown of Rosh Haayin in central Israel alongside his wife Revital, calling on Israelis to vote and “take responsibility” for their democracy.
Mr Netanyahu cast his ballot shortly after in Jerusalem alongside his wife Sara, urging all Israelis to vote and saying it is a “sacred act”.
The election has emerged as a referendum on Mr Netanyahu and his 13 years overall in power, with the existential questions facing Israel rarely being discussed in the camisraelis
paign. The 69-year-old Prime Minister has been the dominant force in Israeli politics for the past two decades and its face to the world.
However, his various corruption scandals have created some voter fatigue. In recent days he has vowed to annex Jewish West Bank settlements if re-elected – a prospect that could doom the already slim hopes of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel, which Mr Netanyahu has previously wavered on.
“It’s about time for a change,”
Barry Rifkin, a Jerusalem resident, said. Polling stations opened at 7am (5am GMT) yesterday. Some 6.4 million eligible voters were able to cast their ballots at more than 10,000 stations. Some 40 parties were running, but no more than a dozen were expected to make it into parliament.
Official results will begin streaming in early today, but it may take far longer for a final verdict to come through, given the fragmented state of Israeli politics.
As many as a half-dozen parties are teetering along the threshold for entering the Knesset, or parliament. A failure by any of these parties to get the required 3.25 per cent of total votes cast could have a dramatic impact on who ultimately forms the next coalition. The Israeli government needs a parliamentary majority to rule and since no party haseverearnedmorethanhalf of the 120 seats in the Knesset, a coalition is required.
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz have ruled out sitting together in government, so the next prime minister will likely come down to how many supporters each candidate can recruit.
Israel’s president Reuven Rivlin could play an important role. Though largely a ceremonial post, the president is responsible for choosing the candidate with the best chance of building a stable coalition government as prime minister.
Mr Rivlin told voters as he cast his ballot in Jerusalem “the only ones that will determine who will be prime minister, and what the next government will be, are you”.