Israel’s Do-Over Election: Déjà Vu or a Chance for Change?

Israelis are voting Tuesday in the second election in five months. The last one ended inconclusively after weeks of negotiations, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, failed to produce a governing coalition with a viable majority for the first time in Israel’s history.

Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is once again fighting for his political survival. Polls indicate a tight race even though he is facing possible indictment on accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. This could be his last stand.

As the deadline for forming a government approached, an ally-turned-nemesis, Avigdor Lieberman, refused to join in. The leader of a secular, ultranationalist party, he did so ostensibly because of a dispute with ultra-Orthodox parties over a bill allowing more seminary students to be drafted.

That left Mr. Netanyahu and his allies one seat short of a majority in the 120-seat Parliament. Determined to deprive his rivals of a chance to form a government, Mr. Netanyahu orchestrated the swift dissolution of the newly elected Parliament, leading to Tuesday’s vote.
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