With just two weeks before the Nov. 1 elections, polls indicate a tie between the right-wing and religious bloc of parties led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the centrist and left-wing bloc led by caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
A few thousand voters, perhaps tens of thousands, will determine the winner and the fate of Israeli democracy. Declarations by several Netanyahu associates have left little room for doubt over his intentions, if he achieves even a slim Knesset majority of 61 seats (out of 120), a result that eluded him in the four previous elections held since April 2019. Netanyahu will have little compunction about instituting a legal-constitutional upheaval reshaping the country’s regime and burying his criminal trial on bribery charges.
