JERUSALEM: A deeply divided Israel will head 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 will cast their ballots in the shadow of three years of multi-front regional wars triggered by Oct 7, with the trauma 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 construction and violence in the occupied West Bank, and a move towards hard-right religious nationalism.
