Israel in limbo as weary voters go to polls for third time in year

Israelis are due to vote on Monday in the country’s third election in 12 months, with many worried the result will be just as inconclusive as previous rounds, extending a painful political stalemate deep into 2020.

After two failed attempts to form a government, the country has been plunged into limbo, run by an interim administration without powers to pass significant legislation or even a budget.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is – once again – facing off against his former army chief of staff, Benny Gantz. Polls still suggest that neither side will have enough seats in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to end the crisis. The country may be dragged into yet another months-long election cycle.

While politicians bicker, Israel has remained on autopilot, and the stasis has already affected state-funded projects, not only building roads and classrooms, but also vital charity work.

Lior Finkel Perl, who heads an umbrella organisation for non-profit organisations (NGOs), the Israeli Civic Leadership Association, said the lack of a 2020 budget meant that no new government contracts had been handed out, while ongoing projects were also facing severe delays in getting funds, even cancelling some services due to the unpredictability.

“Basically, what happened is a lot of services that are very important are either being reduced or are being cut,” she said. “You can see it in different organisations that are dealing with important issues: those that are helping people in need; shelters for women who suffer from violence; organisations that are doing extra-curricular activities after school.”

The biggest issue, she said, was that NGOs could not plan ahead as it was not clear when the political crisis would end. “It’s a lost year.”

In one extreme case, 11,000 low-income families across Israel were told at the end of last year that they would stop receiving monthly coupons worth 500 shekels (around £112) for fruit and vegetables and other food, according to Avi Dabush, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, an organisation that helps run the project.While Israel’s economy remains strong, there are also growing concerns that ifthere is no concrete result this time, the country could see a dent in growth, and a larger-than-expected budget deficit could swell.

A Netanyahu supporter carries his election posters after a campaign rally at a market in Jerusalem. Photograph: Oded Balilty/AP

Professor Avi Weiss, an economist and president of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, said the simple act of holding election after election also had a downside. Each one costs hundreds of millions of shekels to run, and in Israel, voting days are a national holiday, shutting down production.

“There is really no reason it should be a holiday, especially when you are doing it three times a year,” he said. “It would be nice if this would come to an end at some point.”

Meanwhile, new construction projects have been put on hold. Jewish religious seminaries, or Yeshivas, are also due to run out of money in several months, which could deeply affect the welfare-dependent religious community.

Gideon Rahat, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said the repeat elections also presented a more fundamental problem – they were beginning to test the very foundations of the entire Israeli political system. The logic of the parliamentary model, he said, was based on the presumption that politicians would not voluntarily oust themselves after winning a gruelling election. Instead – and as usually happens – enough of them back a candidate, who then becomes prime minister.

In the past two elections, however, MPs have willingly pushed for the Knesset to be disbanded because they were convinced or pressed by party leaders that they could do better in the next round.

“Just imagine, you have an election campaign. You run all over the country. You kiss babies; you eat poor food, and then you oust yourself. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “But then one day we found out this convention is not valid any more. We kind of crossed the Rubicon. We crossed it twice. And what I’m afraid of is that we can much more easily cross it again. Once you realise the sky doesn’t fall, you can do it again and again.”

While this cyclical show continues in the Knesset for months, Netanyahu continues running the country as an interim leader even though his previous term has ended and he faces three major criminal indictments, including the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The prime minister has denied all allegations.

“No one can legitimately say he can replace him until there is someone who is elected. Netanyahu is kind of the default in this situation,” said Rahat. “Theoretically, it can go on for ever.”