Tagged Israeli elections

A political ad for the Shas party portrays the secular Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and until recently Israel's foreign minister, as an Orthodox Jew. "Only a strong Shas will prevent assimilation," the ad says. (Ben Sales)

HAIFA (JTA) — The debate was not televised. The participants did not sit on a stage in front of an auditorium under bright lights. Nor were Israel’s major candidates present. Instead, five representatives of Israeli political parties sat at a folding table in a classroom of perhaps 100 students… Read more »

Left to Right, some key players in the Israeli elections coming up on Jan. 22: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, Tzipi Livni of the New Movement Party and Shelly Yachimovich of Labor. (Yossi Zamir/Miriam Alster/Flash 90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Two months ago, the strategy for victory was clear: To unseat Benjamin Netanyahu in elections on Jan. 22, Israel’s handful of center-left parties had to unite under one banner and choose a leader who could challenge the Israeli prime minister on issues of diplomacy and security.… Read more »

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing early elections in Israel at a news conference at his office in Jerusalem, Oct. 9, 2012. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — It wasn’t Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for early elections that was unusual. After all, only a few governments have served a full term in Israel’s 64-year history. What was unusual was that seemingly everyone on Israel’s political spectrum — from left to right — appeared to… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Kadima Party chairman Shaul Mofaz at a joint news conference in the Knesset announcing that Kadima has joined the coalition government. May 8, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israelis went to sleep Monday night expecting early elections in September for the 19th Knesset. They woke up to the news that elections would take place as planned in October 2013. A behind-the-scenes deal clinched overnight between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Shaul Mofaz created Israel’s… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — With the Sept. 4 date all but officially set as the day for early elections for Israel’s 19th Knesset, the question now is which political parties are poised to gain and which stand to lose. With four months remaining before the election, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin… Read more »