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#ISRAELECTIONS | It's the powerhouse of Israeli politics. The Likud party is expected to win yet another election, despite a potential indictment hanging over the head of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The word 'Likud' means 'consolidation' in English, and the Likud has lived up to its name — consolidating its voting base and its grip on power. Our Mike Wagenheim has the story.
Story:
Some 6.3 million eligible Israeli voters will cast ballots at 10,720 polling stations across the country on Tuesday in the country's first national elections since 2015, with incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz locked in a tight race for the premiership.
First results are expected shortly after polls close at 10:00 p.m. local time.
While Gantz appears in position to unseat Netanyahu after more than a decade in power, it remains unclear whether his centrist Blue & White party will be able to pull together enough support to assemble a viable coalition -- which requires a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament) in order to govern.
Polls show that the right-wing bloc may easily win a collective majority, clearing a straightforward path for Netanyahu to assemble a coalition if he wins the mandate to do so.
Netanyahu has throughout his campaign cast Tuesday’s election as a choice between a right-wing government led by him or a left-wing government led by Gantz.
But smaller right-wing parties also accuse Netanyahu of seeking to shore up support for Likud at their expense. The strategy could be risky, analysts say, as it could see one or more of Netanyahu’s political allies fall below the electoral threshold and cost him the collective right-wing parliamentary majority.
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