Israeli legislative elections: episode IV

Election posters in the town of Bnei Brak, in the northeastern suburbs of Tel Aviv, on March 22.

REUTERS - AMMAR AWAD

Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow

4 min

For the fourth time in less than two years, the Israelis have to elect their MPs.

A very divisive personality, the current Prime Minister is once again a candidate for his own succession.

But Benyamin Netanyahu, "Bibi" as the Israelis call him, can no longer find a majority to rule.

Publicity

Read more

With our permanent special correspondent in Jerusalem,

Sami Boukhelifa

The Israeli system is based on full proportionality.

We vote in one round to elect 120 deputies to the Knesset.

To govern, you have to get at least 61 seats.

It's mathematical.

On paper it's simple.

But in real life, it's not that obvious.

No party can get this majority anymore.

There are games of alliances, but they are too fragile to hold.

Philippe Velilla, Franco-Israeli academic, pleads for a change in the electoral model.

“Unfortunately, the Israelis are not always aware of it, but I am one of those who think that this electoral system is completely outdated,”

explains this specialist, based in Tel Aviv.

“We should change the system and put in place a majority system.

We could take the American system, the English system or the French system, with two rounds.

Because we have been living in a crisis for two and a half years.

And for less than two years, we are in the fourth elections, ”he

laments

.

“And the polls let us think that we could achieve perfect equality between the pro-Bibi and the anti-Bibi, and therefore go towards a fifth elections.

It is a possibility that cannot be ruled out at all ”

, worries Philippe Velilla.

Bibi's reign

Benjamin Netanyahu has been in power for twelve years.

Knowing that he was also Prime Minister at the end of the 1990s, in all he has fifteen years of reign in Israel.

“Even David Ben Gurion, the founding father of Israel, did not stay in power for so long,”

notes Stéphane Wahnich, a researcher at Tel Aviv University.

“We are managing

the end of the great man

[Benyamin Netnayhu],

and it's complicated because the great man still wants to keep power.

And at the same time, a majority, including within the Israeli right, no longer wants him.

And in reality, that's what is the problem, it's not the full proportional system.

It is rather the problem of the end of Netanyahu ”

, analyzes the former associate professor of the University of Paris-Est-Créteil.

Bibi in power or in prison?

The Israeli prime minister is embroiled in several court cases.

He is charged with criminal acts: corruption, fraud and breach of trust.

His trial began almost a year ago.

But a head of government is protected by his function, recalls Stéphane Wahnich.

“As long as he is prime minister, he cannot be tried.

The judiciary cannot prevent a legally elected Prime Minister from continuing his work

.

It is only if he is no longer in this post that he can be judged.

And suddenly, he must remain, one way or another, Prime Minister.

And there are two ways of remaining Prime Minister: either he finds a new coalition, or there is no majority and he keeps his post of interim Prime Minister, ”

concludes the political scientist.    

But for Philippe Velilla, Franco-Israeli essayist, the legal concerns of Benyamin Netanyahu are not a stake in this election for the Israelis.

"Benyamin Netanyahu has been in legal trouble for several years, it has never interfered with the choice of voters,"

he said.

“Those who support him are completely indifferent to this issue.

And those who oppose it are paying attention to this problem.

But he doesn't lose votes because of it.

Benjamin Netanyahu dominates head and shoulders, both his camp, but also the Israeli political scene.

So from there, it's no wonder

the Israelis are coming out for or against him

. ”

These legislative elections, the fourth in less than two years, take on the appearance of a referendum.

The polls put Bibi at the head of the voting intentions, without however obtaining a clear majority for the moment.

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Israel

• Benjamin Netanyahu

• our selection