Israelis will get an opportunity to try to end the political stalemate when they go to vote in an unprecedented third election in under a year on Monday. The voter turnout at 2 p.m. was 38.1%, a 1.6% increase from the September elections and the highest turnout rate at this hour since the 1999 elections. Most of the 10,631 polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., enabling Israel’s 6,453,255 eligible voters to cast ballots. There will also be 14 special polling stations for the 5,630 Israelis quarantined due to exposure to the coronavirus. In the April 9 election, 68.46% of eligible voters cast ballots, with 69.83% voting in the September 17 race. Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz predicted victory at political events on Sunday. They both said they would continue to lead their party even if they will not form the next government and even if a fourth election would have to be held. Gantz told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday at a press conference in Ramat Gan that whatever happens in Monday’s race, he will accept the results. He wished Netanyahu well in his trial that starts on March 17, and said he did not want to see another prime minister go to jail. “Everything has an end, and for Netanyahu, that end happens tomorrow,” he predicted. Gantz said that once the trial begins, he expects Netanyahu’s current political allies to join forces with Blue and White, promising that “surprises will still come.” The Blue and White leader was reacting to Netanyahu saying earlier that MKs in Gantz’s party would follow former Blue and White MK Gadi Yevarkan to Likud. The four parties that make up Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc have nearly enough support to form a government on their own, the prime minister said at what was billed as an emergency meeting of his Likud faction at the Airport City banquet hall. Source
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