Israel goes to the polls with Netanyahu’s political survival on the line

The Irish Times · Irlanda · Prensahace 1 día

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu faces a fight for political survival in Israel’s election on ‌Tuesday as voters go to the polls. People are weighing his leadership after the 2023 Hamas-led attacks, wars in Gaza and with Iran, and Israel’s deepening international isolation.

Yet Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader with 19 years in office, remains a formidable survivor, with nationalist politics increasingly entrenched and Israel’s fragmented system potentially leaving him best placed to form a government. Opinion polls show a close race between Netanyahu’s Likud party and its right-wing allies and a rival alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and security hawk with backers on the right and in the centre.

Voters began casting ballots after polling stations opened at 7am local time. The polls close at 10pm.

Netanyahu has campaigned on his wartime leadership and his alliance with US president Donald Trump, who has endorsed him and joined Israel…

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