Israelis awoke on Monday to a déjà vu scenario – a third national election in less than a year following inconclusive votes in April and September 2019. At a final campaign event billed as an “emergency meeting” on Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing Likud party has been gaining ground in the polls, declared that his right-wing and ultra-Orthodox bloc was close to surpassing the 61-seat threshold required to form a governing coalition. “The data we have from three hours ago shows that we are very close to victory,” Netanyahu said, adding: “We have been rising consistently over the past few days. We can establish a secure right-wing government for Israel.” For his part, Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival and chief of the centrist Blue and White list, reiterated his opposition to sitting in a government headed by a prime minister under indictment. “Everything has an end, and for Netanyahu, that end happens tomorrow,” Gantz said Sunday night in reference to the prime minister’s trial on corruption charges, which begins on March 17. He also suggested that once the court proceedings begin, Netanyahu’s political allies will abandon him and join a Blue and White-led government. “Surprises will still come,” Gantz asserted, without providing further details. Some 6.5 million Israelis are eligible to vote between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. local time, when the results of exit polls are announced.
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