JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is eyeing a return to power when the country holds its fifth election in four years Tuesday, his chances potentially boosted by the rise of the extreme-right.

The longest-serving leader in Israeli history, the 73-year -old right-winger and security hawk is for the first time in years campaigning from the opposition.

He is up against the centrist caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who last year maneuvered a motley alliance of eight parties into a coalition that managed to oust Netanyahu from power.

Lapid sails into the 1 November election just days after a diplomatic breakthrough — finalizing a landmark maritime border deal with foe Lebanon that unlocks offshore gas riches for both sides.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is hoping his record 15 years in power can convince the electorate that only he has the necessary experience to lead the country, despite his ongoing corruption trial.

The polls have Netanyahu's Likud emerging as the largest party in parliament, the Knesset — but in a political system dominated by coalitions, his path to the premiership is far from certain.

Even while the ballots are still being counted, both leaders are likely to enter intense negotiations with smaller parties as they seek to reach the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

For Netanyahu that means rekindling his longstanding ties to the ultra-Orthodox, while he has also courted the extreme -right alliance of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

The duo's Religious Zionism alliance is surging in the polls and could clinch third place, more than doubling its current six seats.

The backing of the extreme -right could serve as Netanyahu's ticket back into high office, a move which would likely come in exchange for handing significant powers to Ben-Gvir.