Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Israel will hold parliamentary elections on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to retain power amid scrutiny of his government’s handling of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the wars that followed and its domestic and foreign policies, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The election is widely seen as a test of Netanyahu’s leadership, with opposition figures including former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and former prime minister Naftali Bennett challenging his right-wing coalition. Opinion polls suggest that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition is assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government.
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Israel uses a nationwide proportional representation system, with the entire country serving as a single constituency to elect the 120 members of the Knesset, its parliament. The country is roughly the size of Mizoram in north-eastern India.
Voters choose closed party lists rather than individual candidates, allowing several political parties to compete for seats. A party must secure at least 3.25 per cent of the vote to enter the Knesset, a requirement that often leads to alliances and mergers before elections.
The Knesset has a four-year term, but an election can be held early if it votes to dissolve itself, fails to approve the state budget within the prescribed period or cannot form a new government.
The party with the most seats does not automatically form the government. After the election, the president consults political groups and appoints a lawmaker to try to form a government. The candidate must secure the support of at least 61 lawmakers.
Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, has served as Israel’s prime minister for nearly 19 years across three separate periods since 1996. He is seeking to remain in office after a period dominated by the October 7 attack and the military campaigns that followed.
The Hamas-led assault in 2023 killed about 1,200 people in Israel and triggered the war in Gaza, which later widened into a broader regional conflict involving Israel, Iran and other armed groups.
Israel subsequently launched a large-scale military campaign in the Gaza Strip involving air strikes, ground operations and restrictions that severely disrupted civilian life. Gaza’s health ministry has reported that more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured since the war began, according to PTI.
Security and accountability for the October 7 attack are central campaign issues. Netanyahu also faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, which he denies. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, leads the centrist Yashar party and has emerged as a main challenger to Netanyahu. He served as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet but resigned in June 2024 after criticising the government for not having a clear war strategy.
Eisenkot has presented himself as an alternative on governance while maintaining a hard line on security. His party has performed strongly in some opinion polls, though the opposition still faces the challenge of putting together a viable coalition.
Bennett is leading the B’Yachad electoral alliance, which includes former prime minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party. Bennett, a right-wing politician who opposes Palestinian independence and supports Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, has also criticised Netanyahu’s handling of security and governance.
Bennett briefly served as prime minister in 2021 under a power-sharing arrangement with Lapid. Their alliance is among the opposition groups seeking to replace Netanyahu’s government.
Other important political players include Yair Golan’s left-leaning Democrats, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and Arab-led parties such as Ra’am and the Joint List. Netanyahu’s key coalition partners include far-right parties led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as well as ultra-Orthodox parties.
The campaign is also being shaped by questions about the future of the war in Gaza, relations with the United States, the threat from Iran and Israel’s international standing. While the leading contenders differ over Netanyahu’s leadership and domestic governance, most have broadly similar security positions and oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state in the foreseeable future.
Another major issue is the exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service, along with the role of religious parties in government and concerns about the independence of democratic institutions and the judiciary.
Most Jewish Israeli men are required to serve in the military. However, ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men studying in religious seminaries have historically received broad exemptions or deferments. The dispute has intensified during the wars as the military faces greater manpower needs and reservists serve for longer periods.
Haredi leaders argue that full-time religious study should be protected, while opponents say the system places an unequal burden on those who serve. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that blanket exemptions could not continue without legislation.
Ultra-Orthodox parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism have been influential coalition partners. They have sought protection for religious education, public funding for their institutions and military-service exemptions. Their support can be crucial in securing a parliamentary majority.
United Torah Judaism broke with Netanyahu’s coalition over the military-service dispute, while Shas has said it will not support a future government without legislation governing the status of religious seminary students.
Netanyahu’s government has also pursued disputed judicial changes that would give elected politicians greater influence over judicial appointments and limit some aspects of judicial review. These issues have strained his coalition and are expected to remain important in negotiations over the next government.
With neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition appearing to have a clear route to the 61 seats required for a majority, the result could depend on whether smaller parties cross the electoral threshold and on coalition agreements negotiated after the vote.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
