Fourth vote in two years: polarization in Israel in elections marked by successful 'vaccination' campaign

03/23/2021 6:00 AM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 03/23/2021 6:00 AM

Right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu or coalition against him?

Or maybe a new dead end?

Israel

votes divided on Tuesday in its fourth legislative elections in less than two years,

with an intense vaccination campaign against covid-19 as a backdrop.

A year after the start of the pandemic, Israel seems to be on the way to overcoming it thanks to a large vaccination campaign that has allowed

49% of the population to

administer

the two necessary doses.

A "victory", claims the outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also vaccinated,

although not immunized against an electoral defeat.

But the past year has also been marked by the beginning of a process against the prime minister

for corruption and abuse of power,

which has encouraged the formation of a social protest movement throughout the country, embodied by the demonstrations on Saturday night. before Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem.

In these new elections, two camps are facing each other:

those in favor and those against Netanyahu

.

But since the proportional electoral system favors access to Parliament for small parties, each side has subdivisions.

Centrist Yair Lapid on a poster in Tel Aviv.

AFP photo

The latest polls attribute to Netanyahu's Likud (conservative right)

about 30 seats out of 120 in the Knesset

(Parliament), against about 20 for his centrist opponent Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid ("There is a future") party, and almost ten for the right-wing parties led by Gideon Saar and Naftali Bennett, followed by dozens of microparties.

To form a government, both Netanyahu's and Lapid's camps will

need to achieve an absolute majority (61 seats)

, and thus avoid new elections.

To do this, the outgoing prime minister

hopes to ally himself with the religious right and the extreme right

, while Yair Lapid would do so with the left, center and right parties disappointed by the prime minister.

"The question is whether there will be a result that allows one of the two camps - the pro-Netanyahu parties and those trying to form a coalition without Netanyahu - have a clear advantage."

At the moment it seems that neither of them will. will get

"says Dahlia Scheindlin, specialist in political polls in Israel.

In spite of everything, according to her,

Netanyahu has for the moment "more possibilities"

to remain head of government after these elections.

To form his executive, Netanyahu has the support of two ultra-Orthodox formations and the new "Religious Zionist Party" led by Itamar Ben Gvir,

a key figure of the extreme right

, who could enter Parliament.

But these supports would be insufficient to form a government, hence the importance for Netanyahu to obtain the support of Naftali Bennett, head of the radical right.

But without this obtaining too good an electoral result, which could put him in a position of strength to impose himself as head of government in place of Netanyahu.

On Sunday night, Bennett went to the studios of a large television network to "sign" a document in which he stipulated that he would not join a government led by Yair Lapid,

but without committing himself to Netanyahu.

If, for their part, the anti-Netanyahu do not reach the crucial number of 61 deputies, they will try if it is possible to approach Bennett or the Arab parties to evict "King Bibi", a nickname given to the prime minister by his supporters.

And if no one succeeds in forming a government,

Netanyahu will remain de facto as prime minister.

For Gideon Rahat, professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, there is no doubt: "Netanyahu is ready for a fifth, sixth or seventh election."

Source: AFP

PB

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