Israel’s voters, who include settlers in the occupied West Bank, Tel Aviv residents eyeing change and Arabs in annexed east Jerusalem, are days away from their fourth election in less than two years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign has highlighted Israel’s world-beating coronavirus vaccination effort and deals establishing ties with Arab nations.
His challengers accuse him of corruption, kowtowing to ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and placing his political interests above those of the nation.
They hope to oust him from an office he’s held for a record 12 consecutive years.
But the field is more fractured than in recent elections, which pitted Netanyahu against a main challenger.
Polls now show Netanyahu’s Likud party in the lead, but former allies Gideon Saar and Naftali Bennett are challenging from the right.
The centrist Yesh Atid party, led by Yair Lapid, is polling second, while the once-dominant left is languishing far behind.
Voters told AFP how they view the March 23 vote.
Yoram Bitan: ‘I will not change’
Yoram Bitan, 54, immigrated from Marseilles to Migdal Oz in the West Bank.
He is one of some 475,000 Jewish settlers in the territory Israel has occupied since 1967, but where Palestinians hope to create their state.
Like many settlers, Bitan backs Netanyahu.
“I shall continue to vote for Bibi and I will not change,” he said, using the prime minister’s nickname.
“He took our country forward.”
Bitan said he hopes Israel will annex the entire West Bank, while allowing Palestinians “to live with us in peace.”
Netanyahu has voiced support for annexing parts of the territory, but suspended those plans in exchange for diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.
Read the article in International Business Times (AFP News).