Deeply divided Israel braces for pivotal election
Israel votes on Tuesday in its first general election since the October 2023 attacks, with polls putting the governing coalition and the main opposition bloc almost neck and neck.
Israel heads to the polls on Tuesday in an election that hangs over a country deeply divided after three years of regional war. Polls published on Friday put the governing coalition and the main opposition bloc almost level, with half a million first-time voters due to cast ballots and tens of thousands of Israelis flying home specially to vote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is campaigning on security under the slogan “No Surrender”, arguing that only he can keep the country safe and casting his rivals as soft on security. His main challenger is Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff leading the centrist Yashar party, who has regularly topped recent polls with a calm, low-drama style.
Eisenkot promises change: a state inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks, enforcement of court rulings on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into military service, and a different vision of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and tolerant state. On Saturday night, large crowds of opposition voters gathered in central Tel Aviv to demand a change of government, while Netanyahu's supporters say his wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have reduced the threats facing the country.
Tuesday's vote could well end in deadlock, with neither the government nor the opposition able to form a majority without the support of Arab parties, which polls project could hold the balance of power. With warnings of fresh threats from Iran and of possible disruption to the ballot, the election leaves Israel facing a fresh test of its democracy.
Reporting based on coverage from BBC News.