Photo: TANIA KRAEMER/DW / Deutsche Welle
Will Benjamin Netanyahu return to power or will centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid retain office?
The Israelis vote this Tuesday (01.11.2022) in its fifth legislative elections in less than four years, the result of which keeps the country in suspense.
The electoral colleges of Israel opened their doors this Tuesday at 11. 00 local time (05.00 GMT) to hold the fifth election in less than four years, in a race as disputed and polarized that could lengthen the parliamentary paralysis and deepen the country’s political crisis.
Under a strong security operation, more of 12,000 polling stations await 6.78 million Israelis to choose between 39 parties , although only a dozen of them will reach representation in the Knesset.
With the end of the vote, the first exit polls will be published, followed by the first official results that may keep Israel on edge until Thursday, when the end is expected of the count of some very tight elections.
Although the 6.8 million registered voters have some 39 ready to choose, the decision boils down mainly to two camps: one in favor of a return of former conservative Prime Minister Netanyahu, judged by corruption, or the supporter of maintaining the young and heteroclite coalition led by the centrist Lapid.
“Coalition of change”
At his 78 years old, Netanyahu, the longest-serving head of government in the history of Israel, try to gather a majority of 61 deputies in the 120 of Parliament with their ultra-orthodox allies and the extreme right, which can rise to third force .
Before him, Lapid, from 58 years and prime minister since July, wants to convince voters to stay the course of recent months with his coalition made up of left, center, right and Arab parties.
This “coalition of change” forged by Lapid and Naftali Bennett ousted Netanyahu from power in June of 2021, but a year later he lost his majority in the chamber due to the departure of right-wing deputies, which caused early elections, the fifth since the spring of 2019.
The polls give Netanyahu’s “right-wing bloc” 60 seats, one for below most, against 39 for Lapid and his allies.
Although the campaign started slowly, it picked up speed in recent days with the parties giving everything to convince the undecided and mobilize their bases, especially in Arab towns.
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