The race to end the battle over the leadership of the right-wing camp in Israel appeared in the 24th Knesset elections that began today, Tuesday, and the competition reflected the ruling crisis and the state of polarization between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp and the opposing camp led by Yair Lapid, head of the "There is a future" party, a reality that The resolution of the fund may move forward to a fifth electoral round if neither camp succeeds in securing a majority of 61 members of the Knesset to form a new government.

The elections for the 24th Knesset, the fourth in two years, come in light of the repercussions of the Corona pandemic and the start of Netanyahu's trial in corruption files, which reinforces fears of a decline in the rate of participation in the vote, noting that the general voting rate in the March 2020 elections was 72%.

Unlike previous elections, competition is limited to the right-wing camp, which has come to dominate the Israeli political scene, so that the competition centers on overthrowing Netanyahu due to corruption files, while retaining the right in power, in a scene in which the right-wing camp has divided itself.

39 lists are competing in the elections, as the number of those entitled to vote is 6 million and 578 thousand and 84 voters, an increase of 124,829 voters compared to the previous elections, who cast their votes in 13,936 ballot boxes, according to data published by the Israeli Elections Commission.

Netanyahu and his wife vote in the 24th (European) Knesset elections

Dismantling and Allying

Netanyahu chose the alliance with the Haredi, religious Zionist and fascist right-wing parties, and the traditional right is betting represented by the head of the "New Hope" party, Gideon Sa'er, and the head of the "Yamina" party, Naftali Bennett, with support from the center camp represented by "There is a future" on forming an alternative government for Netanyahu with the support of whom The Israeli Left.

In the camp opposed to Netanyahu, the various poles of the political map are meeting, from the right-wing camp "New Hope", "Right" and "Yisrael Beytenu", headed by Avigdor Lieberman, and in the center "There is a future" headed by Lapid, the "Blue and White" party headed by Benny Gantz, and the Labor Party Headed by Merav Michaeli, and the Israeli left.

In addition to that, the Arab parties running in the elections with two lists, the joint headed by Ayman Odeh, and the unified headed by Mansour Abbas.

The two camps are making intensive efforts to win every vote to obtain 61 members of the Knesset to ensure the formation of the next government, and Netanyahu is betting in order to form his sixth government on overcoming the fascist right-wing coalition headed by Bezalel Smotrich, and the Kahanists party headed by Itamar Ben Gvir by obtaining the decisive percentage with the largest number of seats at the expense of the party. Right, headed by Bennett, who is supported by settlers and religious currents that form the "religious Zionism" coalition, which Netanyahu succeeded in flatly before the elections by forming the Fascist Right List.

Demonstration against the Prime Minister in Tel Aviv, ahead of the elections (Getty Images)

Netanyahu and Lapid

Political analyst Akiva Eldar believes that the crisis of Netanyahu, led by the right-wing camp, is still awaiting resolution, as Israel will go to a fourth election within two years due to files of corruption against Netanyahu, where immediately after the final announcement of the election results in early April / April, the Netanyahu court will start hearing the testimonies of witnesses. .

Accordingly, Eldar tells Al-Jazeera Net that the fourth elections are fateful and existential for Netanyahu, who is striving to keep power. After dismantling the religious Zionist alliance and contesting the elections, he works with two lists to weaken the center camp and demonize Meretz and "Blue and White" among the Israeli voters in order to fail in Exceeding the threshold rate, "which is the scenario on which Netanyahu is betting on forming a right-wing fascist government headed by him."

And what once seemed almost impossible for many Israelis to go to a fourth election under the shadow of Corona and its economic and social repercussions. The political analyst does not rule out that the day will come after several months, in which the Israelis will find themselves heading to the fifth elections in the event that Netanyahu has not been able to consolidate his camp and strengthen the seats of the Likud Party and the coalition of Haredi parties. And religious Zionism, and the withdrawal of the largest number of seats in the "Yamina" party in favor of Likud, in order to weaken "Yamina" and its president, Bennett, in order to force him to join a right-wing government headed by Netanyahu that relies on at least 61 members of the Knesset.

Lapid is betting on him by the anti-Netanyahu camp in overcoming the government and forming a government (Getty Images)

Options and characters

In the camp opposed to Netanyahu, which aspires to replace him with power, the political analyst believes that things seem more complicated, especially since there are 3 swing parties and may fail to exceed the percentage of decisiveness, and this camp includes parties and alliances between the right and the center, and they may even need support from Arab Knesset members. On the part of the Joint List and the United List, which are the parties that do not have any harmony, understandings, or any common denominator except the agreement to topple Netanyahu's rule.

The same position is taken by the editor of "Haaretz" party affairs, Rafit Hecht, who described the fourth Knesset elections as an "unparalleled anarchic option," whereby Sa'ar and Lieberman are in an alliance with Merav Mikhaeli and Ayman Odeh with the aim of overthrowing Netanyahu and strengthening the strength of the fascist right and his mandate to the Knesset in an effort to fortify Netanyahu. This reality reflects the woes that Israel is experiencing and the governance crisis that afflicts it, which seemed like a dictatorial kingdom ruled by someone on the outskirts of the Third World.

In fact, the party affairs editor says, "The issue of leftists who prefer extreme right-wing figures much more than Netanyahu, such as Sa'ar and Bennett, is that they at least respect the rules of the democratic game and the state. Nevertheless, the left camp as well as the center will not find solutions to its crisis and its retreat off Netanyahu's camp by voting." Of right-wing figures, which would weaken the left camp further and pave the way for Netanyahu to be crowned prime minister again. "

Low turnout in Arab towns to vote in the Knesset elections (Al-Jazeera Net)

Compete and clinch

Apart from the blurring of the electoral scene and the fever of competition to resolve the fund and avoid heading to a fifth election, the former Israeli ambassador to Washington, Shoval Zalman, believes that despite the stability of the financial system in the shadow of the Corona pandemic and the model vaccination campaign, the new Israeli government will face economic, security and social challenges that it must take into account. Assign her priorities.

Nevertheless, Shoval says, "even when there is real difficulty in forming a stable government, there is still a difference between forming a broad and diverse collective government, such as the current outgoing government and forming a narrow but relatively unified composition that can properly deal with the challenges ahead."

The ambassador hints that the scenario closest to reality, despite the polarization between the two camps, is for Netanyahu to form his sixth government with vehicles from the right-wing parties, and he attributed that to the fact that the economic and health repercussions of Corona may accompany Israel for an additional year, and he believes that the Iranian threat is escalating, so that Israel will have to deal with Difficult security decisions and political efforts for dialogue with America and the continuation of normalization agreements.