Voting Begins in Israel Elections; Eisenkot Cites October 7 Failures, Netanyahu Plays the Strongman

Polls opened across Israel on Tuesday as 7,331,981 voters headed to the ballot box. Voting ends at 10 pm local time.

Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF Chief of Staff and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s principal rival, invoked the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre as he urged voters to back his Yashar party.

In a post on X just before polls opened, he wrote: “06:29. Remember this hour when you go to vote. Today we have an opportunity to put a slip in the ballot box, to replace the government of October 7th and the shirking, and to set Israel on a new and better path.”

The opposition bloc led by Eisenkot is pressing for accountability over October 7 and for an independent commission of inquiry. Eisenkot, seen as a security hawk, has built his campaign around calling Netanyahu dangerous for Israel’s security.

In his final message, he said Netanyahu “will conclude his role immediately following the election results” and that the next government would be formed quickly. Israelis, he said, would choose a prime minister “who will never act out of political interests at the expense of Israel’s security and the fighters of the IDF.”

LIEBERMAN AND GOLAN

Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beytenu echoed the message that a vote against Netanyahu is a vote for a stronger Israel. In a post with his grandson, he described the country he wants: one where everyone serves in the army or in civilian service, everyone is equal before the law, civil marriage is allowed and all children study a core curriculum. “A country of ‘live and let live’ and not of coercion,” he wrote.

Yair Golan of the Democrats said Netanyahu’s government has resisted setting up an independent commission and wants a politically appointed one instead, and that the prime minister has declined to accept personal responsibility for the failures on his watch. “Only a big Democratic bloc will guarantee that we replace the prime minister and that there will truly be a government of change,” he said.

NETANYAHU: ‘STOP THEM, VOTE ONLY LIKUD’

Netanyahu is playing to his strengths. He casts his rivals as a left-leaning bloc that might have to rely on Arab parties to form a government, a prospect many voters oppose. In a late-night post on Monday, he said: “Israel’s enemies only want us to lose, because then a dangerous left-wing government of Eisenkot and Lieberman, with Yair Golan and the Arab parties, will rise here. The way to stop them is to go out and vote only Likud.”

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE VOTE

Once the votes are counted, President Isaac Herzog will consult the leaders of the elected parties and then ask the lawmaker he thinks has the best chance of forming a government to try.

That person has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension. If the attempt fails, a second leader may be given 28 days, with no extension. If that also falls short, a majority of 61 MKs can ask the president to give the task to a particular lawmaker within a further 21 days.

To take office, a government must win a majority in the Knesset, though a minority government can take over with fewer than 61 supporters if abstentions leave it with more votes in favour than against.

If every attempt fails, Israel goes to another election, and Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.

With inputs from ANI