Israeli Elections
Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said that pushing the announcement of a decision due to the prime minister’s concern it could politically damage him would be intervening in the elections.
Polls conducted by all three major networks show former IDF Chief Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party winning 21 to 24 seats, making it the second-biggest party after Likud • Channel 12: Gantz-Yesh Atid ticket headed by Gantz would scoop up 35 seats.
Anonymous Yesh Atid officials tell Israel Hayom that if former IDF Chief Benny Gantz doesn’t join forces with their party, Lapid will “take him out.”
Education Minister Naftali Bennett blasted former IDF Chief Benny Gantz and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, saying the last time they teamed up, it resulted in 30 terror tunnels
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the talks will not be “driven” by the United States, but by Israelis and Palestinians themselves.
Israel’s intelligence community, together with the Foreign Ministry, the National Cyber Directorate and private cyber-defense firms, are all preparing to track and repel any attempts at foreign intervention.
The lawyers were expected to argue that if the hearing process did not conclude before the election, the public would not be able to hear Netanyahu’s defense, and therefore could be unduly biased by the hearing.
Likud predicted to win 31 to 32 seats, with 10 to 14 predicted for Yesh Atid and 13 for former IDF chief’s Israel Resilience Party • Labor continues to crash and burn, with projections in the single digits • Habayit Hayehudi hovers around the minimum threshold.
On Tuesday, April 9, Israelis will elect their legislative branch, the Knesset. But they won’t actually know the final results of the top job until weeks later.
Bezalel Smotrich beat Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel for leadership of the party in a vote of 83-40.
Learn the various methods political parties in Israel determine which candidates will appear on their lists for the 21st Knesset.
The religious-Zionist National Union faction planning another joint run with Habayit Hayehudi • Instead of party-wide primaries, a limited forum of 128 central committee members will elect a new party leader and decide on its list for the April election.
