Polls open in Israel, with little expected to change
Israelis on Monday morning began voting in the country’s third election within the space of a year.
Polls show that neither side in an ongoing political stalemate will likely see a change in results and the path to a coalition government could still be a long way off.
Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling conservative Likud party is again in a tight race against the centrist Blue and White party of former military chief of staff Benny Gantz.
Neither Netanyahu nor Gantz proved able to form a governing coalition after elections in April and September of 2019.
However, since then, there have been two big developments that could change the calculus: Netanyahu’s corruption indictment and the US Middle East plan.
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Two weeks after the elections, Netanyahu is set to appear in front of a Jerusalem court on charges of corruption, a fact that hasn’t seemed to deter his supporters.
Perhaps more pressure has come from his right-wing and religious base as settlement leaders are pushing for the prime minister to annex the West Bank settlements and Jordan Valley as soon as possible, under a perceived green light from the US.
Gantz has said that he would also work to implement the US plan in cooperation with other countries in the region.
Roughly 30 party lists are running in the election for the 23rd Knesset, with about 6.5 million people eligible to vote.
More than 10,600 polling stations have been set up across the country.
The Health Ministry has called on the public to vote without fear of being infected with the novel coronavirus.
“It’s safe to vote. Don’t hesitate,” Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov told eligible voters in a video statement on Sunday. “This is your obligation. This is your right. Go and vote.”
The call came amid fears of attempts to influence election results by scaring away voters from specific polling stations, through the spread of “fake news” about suspected coronavirus cases, Israel’s Channel 12 television channel reported.
Some 5,630 Israelis are in quarantine at their homes at the orders of the Health Ministry and have received instructions on how to vote at 16 designated polling stations.
They must wear masks, can only vote if they do not have any symptoms such as a cough, fever, or difficulty breathing and may not use public transport or taxis to reach the polling station.
Many of those in isolation have returned from regions affected by the virus.
Seven Israelis have tested positive to the new virus, which has spread from China to countries across the globe and killed more than 2,900 people worldwide since December.
In the April elections, voter turnout was 68.5 per cent; in September, 69.5 per cent. (dpa)
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