Israelis vote in tight election testing Netanyahu’s grip on power

Israelis were heading to polling stations on Tuesday to vote in the country’s general elections following what some have described as the “ugliest-ever” election campaign.  The emergence of popular former army chief Benny Gantz on the political scene, coupled with a string of corruption scandals, have presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his toughest challenge in years.  

The tight race materialized 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 right-wing Likud.  

Despite the neck-and-neck race between the two leading parties, polls have shown that most Israelis believe Netanyahu will be the one to form the next coalition.  
In recent weeks election campaigns have turned increasingly viscous, with the two main parties accusing each other of having crossed a red line.  

Likud’s campaign began with attacking its rival as the “weak left.”  

The campaign since pounced on reports that Gantz’s phone was hacked by Iranians, alleging that it made him a target of Iranian blackmail. The Likud campaign then moved onto painting Gantz as mentally unstable.  
 - Tel Aviv (dpa), 9 
April, 2019