In Israel, It’s the Day Before the Election

Israel’s 39 political parties vying for 120 seats in parliament and a chance to defeat the nation’s longest-serving prime minister are down to their final 24 hours as the nation prepares to go to polls on Tuesday. There are no absentee ballots and no substitutes (with very few exceptions) for making the trip to the polling station to place a slip of paper bearing the symbol of the selected party in an envelope and depositing it into a collection receptacle. Israelis don’t vote for individual candidates in parliamentary elections. In theory, the prime minister could be any Knesset member, but will most likely be the head of one of the larger parties and must be able to weave together a coalition of at least 61. Most pundits, though, are running the numbers over and over only to come up short with a path to a coalition government, leaving the door open for yet a fifth election in quick succession. Former allies of incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu head two of the three strongest opposing parties, prompting pundits to note that while the head of the government might change, it’s unlikely the broad policies will. According to the polls, the massive showing of more than 20,000 anti-Netanyahu protesters in the streets of Jerusalem on Saturday night does not demonstrate any support for left-wing parties.