Israeli Election: Political deadlock, fractured society

Israeli voters will cast ballot on Nov. 1 to elect members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), the fifth legislative polls in less than four years.

Around 6.7 million voters are eligible to vote in 11,707 polling stations nationwide to elect members of the 120-seat Knesset.

Election Day is a day-off in Israel to allow voters to cast ballot, according to Israeli law.

Any political party must receive at least 3.25% of votes in order to gain a seat in the Knesset.

The Knesset is elected for a four-year period, but it may dissolve itself before the expiration of its term of office by passing a law for that purpose. This law also determines the date of the next elections.

Israel’s last general election was held on March 24.

5th polls

The Nov. 1 election will be the fifth in less than four years in Israel.

In order to have a majority in the Knesset, a party needs 61 of the total 120 seats.

As no party in recent decades has received the minimum 61 seat majority, the leader of the party with the highest number of seats is invited by the president to try to form a government by creating a coalition combining a number of parties.

In the April 2019 polls, no party managed to form a government, leading to call early elections in September of the same year.

A third election was held in March 2020, but the government that was formed in May of the same year reached a deadlock, prompting the Knesset to dissolve itself.

A fourth election was held in March 2021. By June, a coalition was formed with eight parties, ranging from the nationalist right to the Arab left with no representation from the right-wing Likud Party.

One year after the government formation, the Knesset decided in June 2022 to dissolve itself and call early election on Nov. 1.

The Nov. 1 vote will see 40 parties vying for a seat in the 120-member Knesset. However, only 11 parties are expected to make it to the Knesset, according to recent opinion polls.

Opinion polls predict that the right-wing Likud Party, headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will win 60 seats in the Knesset, one shy of a majority to form a government.

The Yesh Atid (There is a Future) Party of Prime Minister Yair Lapid is projected to come second in the Nov. 1 election, according to opinion polls.