Israelis headed to polling stations on Tuesday to vote in
the country’s general elections, in what is being seen as the toughest
challenge in years for
current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The emergence of popular former army chief Benny Gantz on the political
scene, coupled with a
string of corruption scandals resulted in a difficult election campaign for
Netanyahu.
“With God’s help the state of Israel will win,” Netanyahu said as he cast
his vote together with
his wife Sara in Jerusalem.
“There are many people, who want us to continue this fantastic journey which
brought Israel to
its best decade in history and we have so much more to do,” Netanyahu said
afterwards, as he
urged Israelis to vote for his right-wing Likud party.
His main rival Gantz cast his vote in his hometown Rosh Haayin and said:
“This is a day of hope.
A day of unity. I am looking the people of Israel in the eyes and telling them
– this change is
possible.”
“I offer myself as Israel’s prime minister and together, we will take this
new path. I call out
to all of you – let’s respect democracy and go vote,” Gantz added.
The tight race materialised after Gantz teamed up with lawmaker Yair Lapid
to form the new centrist
Blue and White party, which has had a slight edge in most polls over
Netanyahu’s Likud.
However, polls have shown that most Israelis believe Netanyahu will be the one to form the next coalition.
This is partly because the right-wing bloc of parties is expected to be
larger in the Knesset than
the centre-left bloc, handing Netanyahu the mandate to retain the premiership.
Of a handful of voters who spoke to dpa at a polling station in the liberal
city of Tel Aviv, the majority
said they were voting Blue and White. “Only Blue and White!” one woman shouted
on her way to vote.
Adi Grinberg said she was hoping for a revolution and, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, said: “Bibi has to go.
“If I know something isn’t good then we need to see something different.
Maybe the something else will
be worse – I don’t know – but we have to at least give a chance for change,
improvement and a better
life,” Grinberg said.
“I just want to try to bring Bibi down,” said Danielle, who declined to give
her surname, but neither
Danielle nor Grinberg had high expectations of that happening.
“I think Bibi will win again and the country … will only continue to deteriorate,” Grinberg predicted.
Yaarit, who withheld her surname, said she was resigned to a Netanyahu victory and thus, opted for Kulanu, a smaller centre-right party.
The party focuses on socio-economic issues with a platform which seeks to
reduce the cost of living and
reduce social gaps.
“Nothing will change,” Yaarit stated.
Some 6.3 million people are eligible to vote, with some 40 parties on the ballot. (dpa/NAN)
