Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has survived stinging political setbacks and years of scandals, but many Israelis wonder if next week's election, and a looming graft indictment, could presage his downfall.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the funeral of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel on April 4 in Jerusalem. Baumel went missing in 1982, and his remains were recently repatriated.
He has long been willing to form alliances across the political spectrum to maintain power. That fluidity — considered raw opportunism by some — is once again at play in Tuesday’s elections, analysts say. Although Netanyahu’s rightist Likud party has long been the country’s dominant political force, its main rival — the new centrist Blue and White party, spearheaded by former military chief Benny Gantz — has also been polling strongly throughout the campaign.
He served for three years, then returned to office in the spring of 2009 and has held the job ever since, surviving four elections. In language familiar to American political watchers, he has proclaimed innocence and denounced the legal steps against him as a “witch hunt.” “Look at what he has done for Israel,” said Turgeman, who drives a taxi. “Look at the economy, diplomacy, look at the heights he’s brought us to.”The vote is something of a free-for-all, with more than 6.3 million voters eligible to cast ballots for more than 40 parties, an eclectic mix of established blocs and fringe movements. The number of representatives each party sends to the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, depends on its total share of the vote.
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