Government leaders
Israel to give verdict on Netanyahu in pivotal election
A deeply divided Israel headed to the polls on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack, with voters delivering their verdict on veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s rightward drift. Israelis are casting their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars, with the trauma of the Oct 7 attack still fresh and questions over accountability and security central to the campaign. The close-fought vote comes as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by a devastating military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement const