Early parliamentary elections in Israel

Israel held early parliamentary elections. The main rival of the party of the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be, as expected, the center-left alliance.

The center-left Zionist Camp has promised to improve relations with the Palestinians and the international community if it wins the elections.

Netanyahu, in turn, on Monday made a promise to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state if he manages to run for a fourth term.

None of the parties is expected to gain more than a quarter of the vote. The elections will be followed by a long period of negotiations over the formation of the next coalition government.

According to public opinion polls, the Zionist Camp will receive the majority of votes in the early elections initiated by Netanyahu.

At the same time, the BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, Kevin Connolly, suggests that Netanyahu will be able to form a coalition, even if his Likud party does not win the election.

None of the parties has ever received an absolute majority in the elections in Israel.

The polling stations opened in 7 am Israeli time and will run until 10 evenings.

Unexpected intrigue

The past election campaign in the Knesset of the 20-th convocation in Israel has already been called the dirtiest in the entire history of the country. This is partly explained by the lack of need for early elections.

The previous government worked for only a year and eight months, and many Israelis are still confident that the elections could have been avoided.

“There is a situation in the current government that does not allow me to lead the state responsibly,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a special press conference in Jerusalem in early December. “The situation in which you are criticized by your own ministers is more than absurd, and therefore I had no choice but to appeal to the people again.”

Just over three months ago, at the time of the announcement of early elections, polls promised an easy and clear victory for Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party. The closest competitor, the Labor Party, barely gained half of the Likud's mandates, and it seemed that the upcoming campaign would go down in history as the most boring and predictable.

However, just two weeks later, already in mid-December, opposition leader Isaac Herzog and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni unexpectedly announced the creation of a single bloc - the “Zionist Camp”.

The very next day after the joint press conference, the united bloc began to gain popularity in the polls. Over the three months of the campaign, both of its leaders were able to demonstrate a rare unity among Israeli politicians in achieving their main goal - to replace Netanyahu as prime minister.

"Defend Jerusalem and its inhabitants"

The keynote of Netanyahu’s election campaign was security issues, ranging from relations with the Palestinians to fears about the Iranian nuclear program.

In turn, Netanyahu's political opponents have focused on socio-economic problems - the high cost of living and slow economic growth - which, according to polls, interest Israelis much more than the Iranian atom.

The future of Jerusalem has also become a central issue in this election.

Netanyahu has repeatedly accused the center-left that they are ready to renounce Israel’s claims on Jerusalem as the united and indivisible capital during peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

On Monday, Netanyahu spoke at the Jewish settlement of Har Homa in East Jerusalem and said that he was the only person able to ensure the safety of the city.

According to the current prime minister, no Palestinian state will be formed as long as he remains in his post.

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War 1967, as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

However, the leader of the Zionist Camp, Yitzhak Herzog, accused Netanyahu of “alarmism.”

Visiting the Western Wall - one of Judaism's holiest sites - on Sunday, he vowed to "defend Jerusalem and its people with actions, not just words, better than any other leader."