Israel Votes With Netanyahu and Eisenkot Neck and Neck
Polls opened this morning in Israel’s first general election since the 7 October attacks, with Benjamin Netanyahu in a near neck-and-neck race against the former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Neither bloc is projected to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority, so weeks or months of coalition bargaining may follow.
Voters choose parties for the 120-seat Knesset, not a prime minister, which is why a clear result tonight is unlikely. Eisenkot leads Yashar, a new centre-right party, at the head of a “change bloc” that includes Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Golan; Mr Netanyahu needs the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties again. Security dominated the campaign, and in its final days he was reported to have pressed for action against Iran, which he denies. One analyst expects a change of tone rather than direction: “A new prime minister is likely to calm things down,” said Ahron Bregman of King’s College London, adding that “any new government will reflect and mirror this reality” of a sharp turn to the right.