Israel election: polls open for fifth in five years as Netanyahu attempts comeback

The scenarios that could play out in the next few days are as diverse as the camps that make up the Knesset

A supporter of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party on the campaign trail at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on polling day's eve. Reuters

Officials sort ballot papers before a polling station opens to the voters of Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

Far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir at the ballot box on general election day in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

An Israeli soldier casts a ballot at Kerem Shalom Army Base in the south of Israel, close to the border with the Gaza strip. AFP

An election campaign billboard by Blue and White party on a bridge in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv. Reuters

A billboard for Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party in Jerusalem. AFP

An billboard for the far-right Religious Zionist party led by Bezalel Smotrich. AFP

An election campaign bandwagon and a chance for a selfie as Benjamin Netanyahu aims to return Likud to power. AFP

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli far-right politician and leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish power) party, greets supporters. AFP

Israelis hang a poster of Likud party candidate Benjamin Netanyahu in the southern city of Beersheva in the run up to Israel's election on November 1. AFP

A popsicle break beneath an election campaign hoarding for Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas political party near Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. Israelis are back at the polls for a fifth time in less than four years. AP

Knesset member Sami Abu Shehadeh, second left, head of the nationalist Balad party, meets Israel's Palestinian citizens during his election campaign tour in Musmus village. AP

An election hoarding for Sami Abu Shehadeh's Balad party campaign in Umm Al Fahm. Israel’s Palestinian citizens could be central to breaking the country’s political deadlock. AP

A campaign poster of National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz in the southern city of Beersheva. AFP

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters from behind a security screen beside his wife Sara, right, and Likud member Miri Regev during a campaign rally in the northern city of Tirat Carmel. AFP

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli far-right politician and leader of the Otzma Yehudit, at an event in Tel Aviv. Getty

National Unity leader Benny Gantz makes an address in Tel Aviv. AFP

Since 2019, Israel has had four inconclusive elections, which resulted in two short-lived coalition governments. AFP

Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a campaign rally at Migdal HaEmek in the Northern District of Israel. AFP

A giant image of National Unity's Benny Gantz looks over one of the motorways into Tel Aviv. Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid leads a fragmented coalition spanning left to right. Reuters

Polls suggest Prime Minister Yair Lapid's camp is set for a weaker showing than in the last election. AP

Prime Minister Yair Lapid speaks at an event in the city of Rishon Lezion in Gush Dan. AP

In Jerusalem, a Netanyahu supporter blows a shofar, made of a ram's horn. AFP

Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to form a 'strong, stable and national' government. Reuters

A poster of Arab politician Ahmad Tibi of the Ta'al party in his home town of Taibe in Gilboa region. Reuters

As voting begins, all eyes in Israel are on perhaps the most divisive politician in the country's history.

By tomorrow evening, former Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu will know whether he stands a chance of getting back into power, after he was ousted in June 2021 by a wide coalition brought about by current caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Whether Mr Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, can make this comeback is a question that has vexed the country's politicians in this campaign season more than any other.

If he and his allies win a 61-seat parliamentary majority in the 120-seat Knesset, the veteran statesman will prove once again that he is a political force that few can match.

It will also show he is a survivor. Mr Netanyahu is on trial over corruption, and his many opponents fear that he will try to alter the course of justice if he gets into office.

A sixth election?

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during Israeli general elections in Jerusalem. EPA

His victory is quite possible, but still uncertain. Three polls released on Friday predict Mr Netanyahu's bloc winning 60 seats, with 56 going to anti-Netanyahu parties and four to a crucial, perhaps pivotal, alliance of Arab-led parties.

If, as these results suggest, neither camp reaches 61 seats, Israel could be headed for another election within months — the sixth in four years.

Mr Netanyahu's opponents, including the current government, have been doing all they can to stop him. The caretaker administration trumpets a recent maritime deal struck with Lebanon, the restoration of defence ties with Turkey and success dealing with domestic terrorism as achievements of its short time in power.

In a veiled dig at Mr Netanyahu, Mr Lapid told lawmakers from his party on Monday that they will win by offering voters a choice between “the anger of the past or the shared good of the future”.

Mr Lapid and other opponents of Mr Netanyahu have spent much of the campaign drawing attention to the type of government Mr Netanyahu might form.

He could well rely on some of the most radical-right politicians the country has yet seen. There are reports that officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden expressed concern to Israeli President Isaac Herzog about a future government containing members of the far-right.

Rise of the far-right in Israel

Itamar Ben-Gvir is the politician most symbolic of these concerns. He is known for his anti-Arab rhetoric and calls for Israel to annex the entire West Bank, sentiments that would have been taboo a few years ago.

With rising, energised support, he has been one of the most closely followed politicians in this campaign. That the election comes in a year of increased violent tensions in the West Bank makes his appeal even stronger to many on Israel's right, particularly former Likud voters and young right-wing Israelis.

Benny Gantz (top left), far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir (top right), Benjamin Netanyahu (bottom left) and Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid (bottom right). Reuters

Despite the threat posed by the extreme right to their interests, there are fears that the turnout of Arab-Israelis will be particularly low this time round. Voter apathy is high and there is disappointment with the record of Arab politicians.

Without the support of Arab voters, forming a broad coalition against Mr Netanyahu like the last might prove impossible, paving the way for him, and possibly his extreme right partners, to enter power.

With sufficient Arab turnout, Mr Netanyahu will fail, an event that could well close forever the chapter in Israeli history in which he dominated.

These are the scenarios. But, in such tumultuous times, another prospect looms: yet another inconclusive result, and, therefore, a sixth election in a matter of months.