JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Polling has begun in Israel's parliamentary election Tuesday. It is seen as one of the key elections in the history of the country, and one that decides the political fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Opinion poll results published last week suggests incumbent Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister, is in a tight race with former military chief and the new centrist Yashar party's prime minister candidate Gadi Eisenkot to stay in power. US President Donald Trump, the strongest ally of Netanyahu, endorsed him ahead of the vote, while the wider American public holds not so favorable views of Israel and its aggressive leader, polls suggest.
The ruling coalition, led by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, currently has 64 seats in the 120-member parliament.
Neither Netanyahu's far-right and ultra-Orthodox bloc nor the opposition, consisting of left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties, is projected to win a clear majority in the Knesset, probably leading to a political crisis.
According to Israel's constitution, a prime minister needs 61 seats to form a government, which is very difficult in the nation's fractured political scenario.
The rising cost of living; housing prices; security issues, mainly the failure to prevent the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Middle East war; and Israel's attacks in Iran and Gaza, were prominent issues debated over in the election campaign.
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