Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a small advantage over his rivals in Israel’s leadership race, the last polls before Tuesday’s election show, but a deadlock in the fifth ballot in three years is also a likely outcome.
Following the collapse of the government in the summer, Israelis must decide between a record third stint as premier for Mr Netanyahu, or returning to the unique, unwieldy coalition of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties that defeated him in 2021.
Friday’s polls — the final ones that can be published under Israeli law — gave Mr Netanyahu a slight edge over his top rival, Prime Minister Yair Lapid. No party is expected to win an outright majority, but Mr Netanyahu and Mr Lapid have allies with whom they would be expected to form a governing coalition.
Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party was projected to win 30 seats, according to the poll by news organisation Israel Hayom. His bloc of right-wing and religious allies was projected to win 61 seats in total, just enough for a majority of Israel’s 120-seat parliament.
Mr Lapid’s Yesh Atid party was projected to win 25 seats in the same poll, and his anti-Netanyahu bloc would get 59 seats.
However, another poll on Friday by Israeli daily Maariv showed Mr Netanyahu and his rivals in a deadlock with 60 seats each.
Read the article by Dov Lieber in The Australian (from The Wall Street Journal).