Israel General Election Begins... Will Netanyahu Succeed in Returning to Power?

The 5th General Election in 4 Years

Former Italian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo source: The Guardian)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Voting for Israel's fifth general election in four years amid severe political division began on the 1st (local time).

US CNN and The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli general election, which will decide the 120 members of the Knesset with a four-year term and the next prime minister, started simultaneously at polling stations nationwide at 7 a.m. that day.

The voting will end at 10 p.m. that day (5 a.m. KST on the 2nd), and TV and radio broadcasts are expected to report exit polls predicting the vote count results before the official announcement of the counting results.

This general election is the fifth held in the past four years, reflecting the prolonged Israel-Palestine armed conflict with a huge number of casualties and an unstable economic situation due to inflation.

Within Israel, concerns about high prices have grown due to increases in public utility fees and food prices, and 44% of voters are paying attention to the economic pledges presented by each candidate to cope with the rising cost of living, CNN reported.

(Photo by AFP)

The election results are uncertain. Both the right-wing coalition led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the centrist coalition led by current Prime Minister Yair Lapid have failed to secure a majority of seats, leading to forecasts that Israel's political deadlock will continue.

According to polls, the election is expected to be extremely close. In polls conducted by Israel's public broadcaster Kan and Channel 12, Netanyahu's right-wing coalition was projected to win an average of 60 out of 120 seats. Lapid's centrist coalition was expected to secure only 56 seats, with both camps failing to achieve a majority.

The Israeli daily Hayom predicted, based on poll results, that Netanyahu's coalition would secure 61 seats, and Haaretz also anticipated that Netanyahu's coalition would narrowly reach 61 seats.

If both camps fail to secure a majority, Israel will have to hold another general election early next year. Since the April 2019 general election, when coalition government formation failed, repeated failures to form a coalition have continued, causing political and social turmoil.

The British Guardian reported, "If this continues, Israel will not be able to avoid political deadlock," adding, "It may have to hold a sixth election in the spring of next year."

Notably, the rise of far-right parties is a difference from last year. Political analyst Dalia Shindlin said, "Netanyahu worked hard to join hands with Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician in his 40s from the far-right and Zionist parties, but it is uncertain whether he can surpass Prime Minister Lapid."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.