00:01Israel is preparing to vote on Tuesday in national elections widely seen as a referendum on long-time
00:08Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Polls show Netanyahu running neck and neck with contender
00:13Gadi Eisenkot, who has risen up as the Prime Minister's chief rival. Eisenkot has pledged a
00:19state commission of inquiry into the feelings that led to Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack under
00:26Netanyahu's watch, a prominent election issue for many Israelis. Netanyahu's critics accuse him of
00:33putting his political survival above the greater good, and he is currently facing trial on corruption
00:39charges, which he denies. His supporters see him as a veteran statesman who has gone toe-to-toe with
00:45U.S. presidents and other world leaders, resisting pressure to end the war in Gaza or make other
00:50concessions that could harm Israel's security. The election campaign has seen no debate, however,
00:56over Israel's conduct in Gaza following the attack, and both of the main electoral blocs are dominated
01:02by parties that support Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and oppose the establishment
01:08of a Palestinian state, and no major candidate is advocating a return to the peace process.
01:14Israelis vote for parties, not specific candidates, and no single party is expected to win an absolute
01:20majority in parliament known as the Knesset. Whoever can gather a majority coalition will become the next
01:26prime minister.
