The Israeli Election – 5 Things to Know | Start Here

It’s the fourth election in only two years for Israel.
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the thick of it — accused of trying to hang onto power.
So, what’s going on? And what do corruption charges against Netanyahu have to do with it? the vote?

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Let’s talk about Israel’s fourth election in just two years.

The government has collapsed — again.

The two coalition parties led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz had been fighting for months.

So why so many trips to the polls?

Why do some people blame Netanyahu?

And who’s expected to win this time around?

Here are five things you need to know ahead of Israel’s general election.

The first thing you need to know is that in Israel, instead of voting for a politician, people vote for the party they want in parliament.

The Knesset has 120 seats so they have to win at least 61 to get a majority.

But no single party has ever pulled that off so every government has been a coalition.

So here’s the second thing. Many of the parties just can’t stand each other so it makes building those coalitions hard.

Since April 2019 Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz have tried and repeatedly failed to share power.

The last government lasted seven months.

From the start Gantz and his party had to swallow terms they didn’t like.

And Likud had also promised a two-year budget but didn’t deliver.

That’s when it all fell apart.

Which brings us to the third thing you need to know.

This election has a lot to do with Benjamin Netanyahu — they usually do.

Netanyahu is counting on a few things to win.

Israel’s vaccinating people against COVID-19 faster than most places.

He’s seen as tough on Iran and on the Palestinian issue, which plays well with many voters.

People also seem to approve of Israel’s new relationships with Gulf countries like the UAE and Bahrain, what they call normalisation.

But Netanyahu has his fair share of critics.

People have been protesting against him for months.

Some are upset about how much the lockdowns hurt the economy. Unemployment is at 15%.

Others want him held accountable for corruption.

Netanyahu’s been indicted for fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three cases.

He’s accused of things like accepting nearly $300,000 worth of gifts from businessmen looking for favours — it included cigars and champagne …

… of offering a deal to a newspaper owner for positive coverage …

… and what the prosecution calls media bribery, basically getting flattering coverage on a news site in return for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of favourable regulation.

Netanyahu’s pleaded not guilty to all of that.

But his critics are saying that as long as he’s in office he has political influence — and that’s why he keeps dragging Israelis back to the polls.

And Netanyahu has proven he’s a survivor. Likud may not have won elections outright but they’ve been beating their rivals.

So here’s our last thing to know.

Who’s the competition and do they have a chance this time?

There’s the centrist Yair Lapid who leads the Yesh Atid party.

He’s telling people to vote for anyone but Netanyahu.

Then there are two challengers from the right.

Gideon Saar who left Likud to start the New Hope party. He’s pitching himself as Netanyahu’s main rival.

And Naftali Bennett from the Yamina party. He’s positioned himself as neither pro- nor anti-Netanyahu.

Most polls suggest his party, Likud, will come out on top again.

But people in Israel are staring at another weak coalition.

If you look at this poll, for instance, and add up the predicted number of seats for the main right-wing parties, they fall well short of that 61-seat majority.

It’s the same for the centrists. The leftists are even worse off.

Then there’s all these other parties expected to win a handful of seats — including Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party.

They’re polling so low some wonder if they’ll cross the threshold to even get into parliament.

Some analysts say that’s partly because Gantz had promised never to share power with Netanyahu but then did.

Still, some Israelis will vote for parties that represent their views.

Then it comes down to who can get past their differences and make a deal to form a coalition government.

And that could take months.

Aljazeera.com will have all the election coverage on the day and they’ll be following the negotiations closely afterwards.

See you next week.