WEB DESK
Israelis began voting on Tuesday for the fifth time in less than four years to elect a new parliament. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bidding for a comeback. After years of deadlock, voter exasperation may hurt turnout, but surging support for the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism bloc and firebrand co-leader Itamar Ben-Gvir has galvanized the campaign. Outgoing centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid is also in the race.
Israel’s longest-serving Premier, Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges, which he denies, but his rightist Likud party is still expected to finish as the largest in Parliament.
This will be the first time since 2009 when Mr. Netanyahu is running into the polls, not as the incumbent Prime Minister.
As polls opened on Tuesday, the final opinion polls from last week showed him still short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, opening the prospect of weeks of coalition wrangling and possibly new elections.
Security and surging prices have topped the list of voter concerns in a campaign triggered by defections from the unlikely ruling coalition of right-wing, centrist, and Arab parties formed after the last election. The last four elections in Israel ended in an indecisive mandate as alliances fell short of the majority mark in the Knesset.