On 2 March israel will go to the polls for the third time in less than a year. Although Netanyahu's Likud Party leads in the polls, his victory is far from being guaranteed. Things don't look bright for his rivals, either, and that means that yet another round of elections could take place.
In April 2019, during the first round of Israel's general polls, nobody saw it coming. Even though Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its rival, Ex-chief of staff Benny Gantz' Blue and White came in equal, receiving 35 seats each in Israel's 120 seat parliament, the victory belonged to the right-wing bloc, which with 65 members had more than enough to form a stable government.
Once President Rivlin gave Netanyahu the mandate to start coalition talks, the situation looked promising. Negotiations with Gantz over a unity government were not an option, given the bad blood between the two leaders, and the prime minister opted for his “natural” partners – the right-wing bloc – thinking that victory was within arm's reach. He was wrong.
Beginning of an End
Things started to fall apart when one of Netanyahu's allies, Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beitenu party had only received 5 seats, conditioned his joining the coalition upon the passing of the controversial draft law, that would require Israel's Orthodox men to serve in the country's military, from which most are exempt. For religious parties, however, that was a red line.
Netanyahu's efforts to bridge the gap between the two…
