Israel has entered a vicious circle of elections since 2019, the same year that saw former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted, despite his denial, of corruption charges, while this time voters hope to break the deadlock between the most dominant politician of his generation and his many rivals.
The elections are organized amid strict security measures, and the Israeli army announced the imposition of a closure on the Palestinian territories throughout the election day.
The Knesset has set an arrangement for transporting voters by public transportation for free on the election day, which will be a holiday, while the preliminary results will begin to appear at dawn on Wednesday.
Elections in numbers
• Holds the 25th session.
• 6.2 million people aged 18 and over have the right to vote.
• Since the last Knesset elections in March 2021, the number of voters residing in Israel has increased by 3.3 percent, or about 196 thousand people.
• 4.7 million people (77 percent) who have the right to vote in Israel are Jews.
• One million and 44 thousand people (17 percent) of the right to vote are Arabs.
• Another 351 thousand (6 percent) identify as non-Arab Christians, residing without religious classification.
• More than 11,700 regular polling stations.
• The budget for the Israeli elections is about 151 million dollars.
• It costs about $22 per voter.
• 18,000 police and volunteers deployed throughout the day.
40 parties are running in the elections, with 11 parties expected to reach the Knesset seats The main competing parties They are:
• Likud..a right-wing party founded in 1973.
• The Labor Party..a successor to the historic Mapai Party, which was founded in 1968.
• Meretz..a joint list of left-wing parties.
• The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality..a leftist movement founded in 1977.
• Religious Zionism..a coalition of extreme right-wing parties established in 2021.
• The United Arab List.. It was established in 1996 following the decision of the southern wing of the Islamic movement to run in the Knesset elections.
• United Torah Judaism.. A joint list of Agudat Israel and Degel Ha’Torah.
• There is a future.. a centrist party headed by Yair Lapid, founded in 2012.
• The official camp.. It was established in 2022 with an alliance between the centrist Blue and White party and the New Hope party.
• Shas..founded for Sephardic Jews in 1984.
• The National Democratic Assembly.. an Arab nationalist party founded in 1995.
• Yisrael Beiteinu.. Founded in 1999 headed by Avigdor Lieberman.
• The Arab List for Change.. Founded in 1996, headed by Ahmed Al-Tibi.
Why are there other elections?
• In June 2021, Yair Lapid and his coalition partner Naftali Bennett were able to end Netanyahu’s record rule, which had lasted for 12 years without interruption.
• Less than a year into his rule, the coalition lost its meager majority due to defections.
• Instead of waiting for the opposition to move to oust him, the coalition dissolved parliament, as it was necessary to go to new elections.
Gantz Pomegranate Libra
Academic specialist in international affairs, Tariq Fahmy, told Sky News Arabia that the current situation is a repetition of the recent elections scenario, and “in any case, there will be no radical change, but there is a problem related to several phenomena, and Netanyahu will be the focus of what will take place in the next stage.”
The professor of political science, head of the Israel Studies Unit at the National Center for Middle East Studies, added that a coup against Netanyahu by the Likud is possible if the formation of the government falters, as “the former prime minister suffers from an internal crisis in the absence of confidence in him.”
Fahmy explained that “the other scenario is that the Israeli president may resort to directing the formation of a national unity government that includes all parties. The previous government included 8, but this one might include 10 or 11 parties.”
On the fortunes of the Arabs, Fahmy said, “The phenomenon of Mansour Abbas in the previous elections will not be repeated. The Arab parties are fragmented and weak, and will not exceed 8 or 10 seats, and will not represent the pomegranate of the balance, which will go to Benny Gantz, the Minister of Defense. He alone can play this role in The framework of his keenness to be present in a large way, and perhaps Israel will push him, because he has good relations with Arab and regional powers, and he will be a fierce competitor to Netanyahu.”
On the other hand, the political analyst considered that Lapid’s chances are few, describing him as a “moderate pacifist figure, but the formation of the government under his leadership will not last long,” while he did not rule out resorting to a sixth election later.
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