Under the windows of his residence in Jerusalem, thousands of people bade a new farewell to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the evening of Saturday, March 20, three days before the Israeli legislative elections. They were 50,000 according to the organizers, the biggest mobilization in months, if not since the start of the movement. The din of brass bands in the crowd drowns out the sound of a rock concert on the stage. No physical distancing: it’s a huge melee. This is a benefit of the fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the world, led by Mr. Netanyahu, which he made his main electoral argument.
“Let the accused stand up!” ” The crowd mocks the Prime Minister’s corruption trial, whose hearing phases are due to open a few days after the poll. These protests have been going on for thirty-nine weeks, an exceptional longevity for a social movement in Israel. And so what ? One thing is certain: Mr. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, will lead the elections on March 23.
Same scenario for two years
Admittedly, no poll gives it a majority of sixty-one seats out of one hundred and twenty. But he managed to scatter his opposition, which will have to negotiate at length, if it crosses this threshold, to form a government of alternation. If both sides fail, the country will go to a fifth ballot. Electoral wear and tear is felt right down to the hard core of the demonstrators. “Next time, if nothing changes, these people will no longer vote. We are tired… But I cannot sit at home and cry ”, says Rafi Taylor, retired actor, active among the “black flags”, the most structured group of the movement.
Israel seems to have fallen into a time rift: the same scenario has been playing out for two years, with a few variations. Opinion polls have sedimented since April 2019: a narrow majority of Israelis want a change of prime minister. But Mr. Netanyahu’s “bloc” is resisting, with the help of the religious right and the ultra-Orthodox. “Voters consistently respond the same way. But the parties refuse to draw a conclusion. These polls are so disrespectful of the public… It is a waste of money in the midst of a pandemic. An immense violence ”, says poll specialist Dahlia Scheindlin, who hosts a high-flying podcast, “Electoral Overdose”, for the left-wing daily Haaretz.
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