Israel Elections – Polls Open: ‘I Hope We End The Day With A Big Smile’ Says Netanyahu

Today, Tuesday (1/11), Israelis go to the polls for the fifth parliamentary elections in their country in less than four years. He will return to power Benjamin Netanyahu; Will the centrist Yair Lapid remain in the prime ministership? In the Israel there is anxiety about what will eventually happen.

Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (and Greek time) in Israel and disputed Jerusalem and are expected to close at 22:00 local time. Exit-polls will then be announced, followed by the first official results, which may keep the whole country in suspense until the final tally is announced on Thursday, as the the outcome of these elections appears uncertain.

The 6.8 million voters, who are registered in the electoral rolls, have to choose between about 40 ballot papers in these electionswhich are mainly limited to two camps: that which favors a return to power of the right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption in a series of cases, and that which wants to remain in power a disparate coalition, led by the centrist Yair Lapid.

At 73, Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, is trying to secure a majority of 61 lawmakers out of the 120-member parliament, along with his ultra-Orthodox and far-right party allies, led by Itamar Ben Gvir.

The West Bank is closed

The election is taking place in a tense atmosphere in the occupied West Bank, with two attacks launched in recent days by Palestinians, one of which killed an Israeli citizen on Saturday night in Hebron.

After a series of anti-Israel attacks in the spring, the army has launched more than 2,000 raids in the West Bank, mainly in Jenin and Nablus. During these operations, incidents and riots often break out. So far more than 120 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, the highest toll in seven years.

The Israeli military today closed access points to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, except for “humanitarian” emergencies.