Photo: עט הזמיר, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons With less than two months to go until polling day, the contours of the battlefield for Israel’s general election on 17 September have begun to look a little clearer. Over the past week, Labor leader Amir Peretz announced a deal between his party and centrist Gesher party. Its leader, Orly…

Photo: Adi Cohen Zedek, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Six weeks after the Knesset voted for new elections in September, the Israeli political landscape looks no more certain than it day after Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprising failure to form a government. The Israeli prime minister had appeared to emerge victorious from April’s general election, but weeks of…

Photo: עט הזמיר, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons In a back to the future move, Amir Peretz last night succeeded Avi Gabbay as the next leader of the party that built the modern State of Israel. 67-year-old Peretz – who led Labor from 2005 to 2007 – beat two younger candidates famed for leading Israel’s 2011…

Image: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Israel will go to the polls on 17 September – less than six months after Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to win April’s general election – following an unprecedented political stalemate. As the midnight deadline to negotiate a new coalition approached last Wednesday, the Knesset voted by 74 to 45 to…

Image: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Israel appears to be edging towards a general election – less than two months after Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected on 9 April. With the deadline to form a new coalition government fast approaching on Wednesday night, the prime minister’s effort to secure a Knesset majority appears to have stalled.…

With the dust settling on Israel’s fractious and tumultuous election for the 21st Knesset, albeit with the horse-trading of coalition building still in progress, it is valuable to examine the structure of the election and see how it influenced the result. The Israeli electorate are given the choice of a political party to vote for rather…

Benjamin Netanyahu’s hopes of entering the history books and becoming Israel’s longest serving prime minister appear close to realisation after yesterday’s general election. Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance each emerged from the closely fought contest with 35 seats. But, with counting almost complete, the prime minister looks set to have a…