Israel to give verdict on Netanyahu

Jerusalem (AFP) — A deeply divided Israel headed to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack, with voters delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s rightward drift.

Israelis are casting their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by 7 October, with the trauma still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign.

The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, along with a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.

The last opinion polls to be published showed Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, running neck and neck with his main centrist rival Gadi Eisenkot, a political novice and former military chief whose mild manner is seen as the antithesis of the incumbent.

“I want change in our country. I want a good democratic centrist government,” Alexandra, 65, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at a Jerusalem polling station, where a few dozen people waited to vote early in the morning.