City
Epaper

Israel set for 4th election in 2 yrs

By IANS | Published: March 23, 2021 10:16 AM

Tel Aviv, March 23 Israelis will vote in a fourth election in two years on Tuesday, which many ...

Open in App

Tel Aviv, March 23 Israelis will vote in a fourth election in two years on Tuesday, which many fear will once again lead to a rickety governing coalition, if one can be formed at all.

The fundamental choice for voters will be between blocs that back long-standing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those that seek to oust him, reports dpa news agency.

Polls predict that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud will emerge again as the biggest party in Israel's Knesset.

But they also indicate the 71-year-old will face great difficulty in building a functioning coalition that can command at least 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat legislature.

Tuesday's election comes just a fortnight ahead of the start on April 5 of the evidence phase of Netanyahu's corruption trial.

When voters headed to the polls in March 2020, the fact that the trial was set to start in May did not stop them from returning Netanyahu to power at the head of the country's largest party.

Netanyahu hopes that Israel's successful vaccination campaign under his leadership, as well as the historic US-brokered normalisation deals he signed in September 2020 with Gulf states, will boost his chances in this fourth round.

Some 6.6 million of Israel's 9.3 million citizens are eligible to vote at nearly 13,700 polling stations.

Drones will be deployed to monitor about 751 ballots designated for people on Covid-19 quarantine, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement by the Central Elections Committee chief Orly Ades.

Some 38 polling stations have been installed for patients in coronavirus units inside hospitals.

Four ballots will be operated at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv to enable returning Israelis to vote after two-month-long restrictions on entering the country was lifted earlier this week.

In March 2020, voting turnout was 71.3 per cent.

( With inputs from IANS )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Tags: israelBenjamin NetanyahuTel AvivLikudKnessetLikud party
Open in App

Related Stories

International8 Soldiers Injured in Israeli Airstrike on Outskirts of Syria’s Damascus

InternationalIsrael Denounces Colombia for Breaking Diplomatic Ties

InternationalUS Campus Protest: Many Injured as Violent Clashes Erupt at UCLA Between Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israel Activists, Visuals Emerge

InternationalPalestine: President Nabil Abu Rudeineh Blames Us Support for Israel’s Possible Rafah Attack

InternationalIsrael: Thousands Rally in Tel Aviv Against Netanyahu Government, in Support of Hostage Deal

International Realted Stories

InternationalSadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor despite criticism over rising crime rate

International1 in 26 Uyghurs jailed, accounting 1/3 of China's prison population: Uyghur Human Rights Project report

International"PM Modi's govt will never compromise when it comes to national security": Jaishankar on India-China borders' clashes

International4 killed after Pakistan security forces open fire on peaceful protest in Balochistan

InternationalPakistan Telecommunication Authority rejects govt demand to block over 0.5 million SIMs of non-filers