Israel is on an election footing for the fourth times in two years, with exasperated voters girding themselves for a contest shaping up as another polarizing election on Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader and its only sitting prime minister ever to face criminal charges.
But whether yet another trip for voters to the polls in March will bring greater stability to the country or a frustrating repetition of its political deadlock remains to be seen.
Netanyahu, known as 'the magician' for his seeming ability to pull unlikely victories out of hats, is entering the campaign confronted with obstacles that will challenge even his formidable political survival skills.
Israel’s economy has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country entering its third national lockdown under Netanyahu’s watch Sunday amid a new surge in infections. His unprecedented trial on corruption charges, which began in May, is expected to enter a more sensational phase in February.
And Benjamin is now facing competition from a former ally, Gideon Saar, who resigned from Netanyahu’s Likud party earlier this month, December, to form a new political party, New Hope, which aims to siphon off conservative voters weary of the political melodrama surrounding Netanyahu.
Another rival, Naftali Bennett, a former defense minister who leads the right-wing Yamina party, has also gained friction.
Netanyahu’s fifth term in office lasted only seven months, with the new election automatically triggered by law after the government failed to present a 2020 budget by midnight Tuesday night.
Lawmakers rejected Netanyahu’s plea to extend the budget deadline by a week, leading to the coalition government’s collapse.
Netanyahu failed in his bid to obtain parliamentary immunity from prosecution in January, weeks after Atty. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit indicted him on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
In May, his trial's opening was a media spectacle. Netanyahu declares himself on the courthouse steps to be the victim of a coup attempt by deep-state judiciary officials and 'the left-wing media.'
Former Isreal Spy Jonathan Pollard Greet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy analyst who spent 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, has flown to Tel Aviv a month after a travel ban ended.
Pollard, 66, and his wife Esther were greeted at the airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recited a Jewish blessing.
Benjamin Netanyahu with Jonathan Pollard (©: Twitter/Office Of The Primeminister Of Isreal)
Mr. Pollard was arrested in 1985 and given a life sentence after pleading guilty to selling US secrets to Israel. Israel initially denied Mr. Pollard had spied for the state, insisting he had worked with 'rogue' officials. But in 1995, Israel granted him citizenship, and three years later, it officially recognized him as an agent.
Successive US administrations rejected Israeli appeals for Mr. Pollard to be shown mercy, and it was not until 2015 that he was released on parole. Under its terms, he was not allowed to travel outside the US for at least five years without permission.
Last month, the US justice department announced that Mr. Pollard had completed his parole, freeing him to go to Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Pospond United Arab Emirates And Bahrain Visit
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the first announced official visit to the two Gulf Arab states by an Israeli prime minister, has again been postponed.
The Walla news site report said the recent delay is due to the ongoing national lockdown ordered in Israel to curb coronavirus infections. It is the second time in the past month that Netanyahu’s Gulf tour has been delayed.
Netanyahu had been scheduled to visit the two countries in the first week of January, according to Walla. It did not say whether a new date has been set.