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Has many political opponents, but none can really beat him at the moment: Benjamin Netanyahu
Photo: RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS
It is unusual for a country to hold elections four times in two years.
It is even more unusual when a man accused of corruption wins all of these elections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of bribery in three cases and the trial against him begins in April.
Nevertheless, the incumbent prime minister got just under a quarter of the votes in the election on Tuesday, according to initial projections.
After counting almost 90 percent of the ballot papers, his Likud party received 30 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, making it the strongest faction in parliament.
All other parties ended up far behind.
Pragmatism and lack of alternatives
How is it that Israel is voting again for a man who will soon have to appear in court several times a week?
The answer: a mixture of pragmatism and a lack of alternatives.
Netanyahu may have many flaws: He is not only the first Israeli prime minister to be charged in office - but also the first to more or less openly try to obtain amnesty for himself.
Critics claim that his last coalition with the center-left Blue-White party was also broken because Netanyahu failed to grant himself immunity.
60 percent of Israelis received their first Covid vaccination
At the same time, Netanyahu has had political successes that many other heads of government are likely to envy.
Before the corona crisis, unemployment fell to a historically low level: just over three percent of Israelis were without a job in spring 2020.
In the twelve years that Netanyahu has been in office, the country has experienced relative security.
Under the Trump administration, he signed peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and moved closer to Saudi Arabia.
Most importantly, Netanyahu managed to almost stop the pandemic in Israel.
Hardly any other country in the world has vaccinated so many citizens so quickly: Almost 60 percent of the population in Israel received an initial dose.
It is true that people often have to continue to wear masks and keep their distance.
But restaurants, bars and hotels are reopened for vaccinated people, concerts and sporting events take place under certain conditions.
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Beachgoers in Tel Aviv: In many places, it feels like the pandemic is almost over
Photo: Gideon Markowicz, JINI / dpa
These achievements are reason enough for many people to choose Netanyahu again.
Maybe also because there are hardly any alternatives: his challengers are less experienced politically and have neither Netanyahu's cosmopolitanism nor his connections to other heads of government.
In times of crisis, many Israelis prefer not to experiment.
Instead, they opt for a familiar - albeit allegedly corrupt - face.
Despite the indictment, Netanyahu has only lost six Knesset seats compared to the previous election.
Nevertheless, he cannot rule through - on the contrary.
Although he got the most votes, it will be difficult for him to form a coalition.
Israel's political landscape is fragmented: in recent years there have sometimes been ten parties in parliament, this time it could be even more.
To form a government, Netanyahu must win 61 out of 120 Knesset members.
According to the first counts, he is still far from certain of this majority.
Loyalty to ministerial posts
In order to come even close to a coalition, Netanyahu has to assemble several right-wing religious micro-parties behind him.
In the past, he often only succeeded in doing this by promising ministerial posts to their chairman in return.
It so happened, among other things, that a representative of the strictly religious party »United Torah Judaism« worked as health minister at the beginning of the corona crisis.
It was only after the man announced that the "Messiah" would redeem Israel from the pandemic that someone else was entrusted with dealing with the pandemic.
In order to remain head of government, Netanyahu also has to convince several former companions to support him.
Among them is former high-tech entrepreneur Naftali Bennett, who was even Netanyahu's Secretary of Defense - today they are bitter rivals.
The morning after the election, he did not want to answer whether Bennett would join a coalition under Netanyahu.
Difficult government formation
Even if he does, Netanyahu does not currently provide a secure majority.
After counting almost 90 percent of the votes, he and his possible allies will have 59 out of 120 Knesset seats on Wednesday morning - two too few for a government.
Netanyahu will now try to poach politicians from other parties.
It is unclear whether he will succeed.
If not, Israel would probably have to vote again: for the fifth time in three years.
