Israeli Elections
“The reality in the south—as we unfortunately saw today where Israeli children spend their nights in bomb shelters while the heads of Hamas celebrate—must end now, and it will,” said former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff and Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz.
Only 37 percent say they are certain they will vote for their preferred parties • Yisrael Beytenu has the largest number of committed supporters, with 79 percent saying they will definitely be voting • Some 28.5 percent of voters are still deliberating between two parties.
“I am saying, not in an anonymous recording but openly and in my voice: I won’t sit with Netanyahu in the government!” declared Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz.
It also appears that the Iranians bought the data from hackers, rather than engaged in the hacking themselves.
In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court voted in favor of a petition to disqualify him as a candidate due to anti-Arab beliefs and incitement.
The dramatic escalation took place a little more than a month before Israelis are scheduled to go to the polls for national elections, and just two months before Tel Aviv is expected to host the international Eurovision song contest.
Darkenu is registered as a nonpolitical entity unaffiliated with a specific party. But according to Likud, it has been de facto running the center-left’s grassroots operation by promoting, albeit indirectly, the Blue and White Knesset list.
“The reason the center-right is the largest bloc in Israel is because people have become very disenchanted with the sort of cultish, irrational positions of the left, whether on strategic or economic or social issues.”
A week after Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he planned to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three cases, the Likud loses three seats, dropping to 26, compared to a loss of five seats for Blue and White.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit, and far-left Ra’am-Balad and Hadash-Ta’al parties, will be allowed to run in Israel’s upcoming national elections, thanks to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.
Likud officials said that eroding support has been a result of the governing party not being aggressive enough in its attack on rival Benny Gantz; hence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has concluded that Likud has to focus on driving home the message of “Gantz is the left.”
Collectively, they have vast experience in dealing with Israel’s array of security challenges, which raises the question of how their past is shaping their current political outlooks, particularly regarding the Palestinian question and other key issues.
