Agencies
JERUSALEM, MARCH 2 :
Israelis started voting on Monday in unprecedented third parliamentary elections in less than a year to break the deadlock on government formation, with the country’s longest-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fighting for his political survival amid indictments on graft charges.
Neither Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, nor his main challenger, Benny Gantz — leader of the Blue and White alliance — were able to put together majority coalitions following the last two elections.The final opinion polls suggested the latest round is too close to call.
Some 10,631 polling stations opened today morning at 7 am Israel time to enable about 645 miliion eligible voters to cast their ballots.
There will also be 14 special polling stations for Israelis quarantined due to possible exposure to Coronavirus. Exit polls will be released immediately after 10 PM, with final results expected on Tuesday morning. Israel’s highly divided polity threw two inconclusive elections result in April 9 and September 17 polls with nobody managing to muster support of 61 Knesset members. If the results of the third round of polls are aligned with current predictions, the stalemate is likely to linger which complicates the pitch for the Israeli prime minister who will go on trial in just two weeks after Monday’s vote.
Israel votes in unprecedented third general elections in less than a year
