More Israelis had cast their votes by noon than in any election since 1973<\/p>\n
Voter turnout is at a five-decade high in Israel\u2019s closely-contested parliamentary election, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a referendum on his handling of political scandals, corruption allegations, and wars with Hamas and Iran.
\nGadi Eisenkott, a former military chief who heads the centrist Yashar party, has emerged as Netanyahu\u2019s strongest challenger. Eisenkott is unlikely to soften Israel\u2019s military or foreign policies. Instead, he has portrayed himself as a patriotic centrist, free of the self-interest that characterized Netanyahu prior to Hamas\u2019 October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
\nBefore the attack, Netanyahu faced corruption probes and was sinking in the polls as protesters took to the streets to oppose his controversial judicial reforms. Although the attack and subsequent war on Gaza bought Netanyahu some political breathing space, his opponents are now questioning how the prime minister could have left Israel undefended on October 7, and whether he ignored forewarnings about the attack.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Israel heads to the polls: Netanyahu seeks to survive another election<\/p>\n
Netanyahu has also been condemned for putting his interests before Israel\u2019s by attempting to push Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir into a new military operation on the eve of the election, according to a Channel 12 report. Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has demanded that the prime minister be investigated on suspicion of treason over the allegation.
\nRising defense spending, higher living costs, and wartime tax hikes have further eroded Netanyahu\u2019s popularity. An October 21 Jerusalem Post analysis of four major surveys put Eisenkott\u2019s Yashar party at an average of 22.5 seats, compared with 19.75 for Netanyahu\u2019s Likud.
\nHowever, neither Netanyahu\u2019s allies nor the opposition appear assured of the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel\u2019s 120-member Knesset. The closing of the polls at 10:00 PM local time on Tuesday will likely mark the beginning of a lengthy period of political horse-trading, in which Netanyahu\u2019s far-right allies and Israel\u2019s Arab parties could play an outsized role in deciding the Jewish state\u2019s next government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More Israelis had cast their votes by noon than in any election since 1973 Voter turnout is at a five-decade high in Israel\u2019s closely-contested parliamentary election, as Prime Minister Benjamin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t