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Analysis: Israel’s dirty election campaign kicks off

Shortly after announcing early elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is targeting his rivals with rumors, accusations and even fake news, especially former IDF chief Benny Gantz.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 6, 2019. Gali Tibbon/Pool via REUTERS - RC1851386D20
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On the afternoon of Jan. 7, not a single Likud minister had any idea what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intended to announce that evening. Like other Israelis, they saw reports about Netanyahu’s plans to deliver what the Likud press office described as “a dramatic announcement." Senior Likud officials — the top echelons of the ruling party — were driven crazy, along with the rest of the country, as rumors spiraled for hours amid heightened tension. It all ended in a magnificent anti-climax: A stern-faced Netanyahu informing the citizenry that requests he had made to confront his accusers — former associates who have turned witnesses for the state — were denied. “What do they have to be afraid? What are they hiding?” Netanyahu asked.

The event turned out to be yet another stage in Netanyahu's frontal attack against legal authorities since he found out that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit intended to announce, before the April 9 elections, a decision on whether to indict the prime minister on charges of bribery, pending a hearing. After all, Netanyahu called snap elections for April to avoid such a scenario, only to find himself in a spin.

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