Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz yesterday headed to their third match-up in less than a year, as Israelis burdened by election fatigue and political paralysis looked grimly at polls forecasting another deadlock.
However, Netanyahu’s prospects appeared to have improved, as he went into the last stretch ahead of yesterday’s race.
A year of political paralysis has not dented Israel’s economy, which expanded at an unexpectedly faster clip of 3.5 percent last year on consumer spending and a booming technology sector. However, there is concern that continued stalemate would alienate investors and delay reforms to the ailing health, education and infrastructure systems.
Photo: AFP
If no government is formed after the vote, Israel’s credit rating might suffer, Bank Hapoalim Ltd said in a report on Sunday.
Netanyahu, indicted in three graft cases, has been gambling on successive revotes to win a majority in parliament and possibly keep himself out of jail. Two major developments have rippled through the body politic since Israelis last cast ballots in September.
The once all-powerful prime minister watched corruption suspicions ripen into indictments and a March 17 trial date.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump’s administration reshuffled the Middle East deck with a peace plan that would allow Israel to unilaterally annex large chunks of the West Bank, in a harsh blow to the Palestinians’ statehood aspirations.
While these moves could have far-reaching implications, polls suggest they have not tilted the contest toward a clearcut verdict.
Netanyahu built momentum in the last two weeks of the campaign, and his Likud party overtook Gantz’s Blue and White in polls after consistently trailing before. Yet he and his religious and nationalist allies still fell short of a parliamentary majority.
The last surveys gave the prime minister’s camp as many as 59 of parliament’s 120 seats, while the rival bloc led by Gantz would win up to 57.
If the polls are borne out, then the fulcrum would shift to coalition negotiations that did not end the impasse in the previous two rounds of voting.
The surveys’ margin of error makes a Netanyahu victory realistic, but if he cannot scrape together a 61-seat majority, a variety of options could ensue, said Abraham Diskin, an emeritus professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
“There could be a rebellion in both camps” against their leaders,” Diskin said. “You could have a minority government. You could have a unity government, and there could be another election.”
In a sign of the times, isolated voting stations were put up in parking lots to accommodate about 5,600 Israelis under house quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.
Election workers and voters at these stations operated in separate tents with transparent panels that allowed the workers to supervise voting. Voters were aksed to don masks and gloves, and put their identifying papers in plastic bags to lessen the risk of infection.
The absence of a fully functioning government since December 2018 has put off decisive action on many fronts as security, political and diplomatic challenges mount.
Confrontations with Iran-backed militants on the country’s northern and southern frontiers have flared sporadically, and while the economy has been robust, risks are piling up.
Israel remains without a permanent budget, a predicament the central bank has warned could have a contractionary effect on the economy.
Exit polls would be released immediately after voting ends at 10pm, with final results expected this morning.
Additional reporting by AFP
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