Can anyone really understand Israeli politics?
Tomorrow Israelis go to the polls in a second general election in a mere five months. What’s going on?
As the latest report in the “Guardian” newspaper explains:
“Israel is due to hold its second election in five months after Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was unable to form a coalition government. Facing political defeat, he forced a repeat election.
Final opinion polls released on Friday suggest razor-thin margins between his ruling Likud party and the centrist Blue and White alliance led by the former military chief Benny Gantz. It is possible there will be no clear winner, which could kick off weeks of political deal-making with smaller parties to decide Israel’s next government.:
There could be a new deciding factor in this election:
“Israel’s Arab parties are expected to win significant seats after reunifying into a single alliance, similar to 2015 when they became the third-largest force in the Knesset. It is possible they could gather enough seats to block Netanyahu from continuing as prime minister.”
But the Israeli political system is unique in the world and you might like to know how it works in order to make sense of the election. Also you might like to know how the various political parties did at the last election so that you can see how much things change tomorrow. In which case, I recommend my short guide to the Israeli political system,