Shortly before the elections in Israel: Netanyahu is going one better in the election campaign

The election campaign in Israel is currently entering its final round, with citizens going to the polls on Tuesday. It could be a fateful election in which – even more than usual – every vote counts. The latest polls mostly see the opposition bloc, led by former general Gadi Eisenkot, ahead of the current governing coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, only by a handful of seats and without an absolute majority.

Acting Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the closure of the West Bank after an attack in Hebron at the weekend - and used the incident for his election campaign. Safety is one of his guiding principles; He had also repeatedly accused the opposition of striving for a Palestinian state.

On Tuesday, all checkpoints to Israel will remain closed to Palestinians, and they will also not be allowed to enter the settlements in the West Bank. The right-wing finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is running for re-election with his Religious Zionism party, has also ordered the demolition of Palestinian buildings without building permits in Hebron near the site of the attack. These include the homes of families whose demolition they were powerless to follow.

In addition, the neighborhood from which the attackers came was partially razed to the ground. At the same time, the Israeli armed forces said they were launching anti-terror raids in the area. Families were forced from their homes. Deputy Mayor Khaled Fahd al-Qawasmi told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Sunday that more than 2,200 residents currently no longer have access to their apartments.

In Israel itself, Netanyahu made headlines when he said in an interview that Israel should prepare for global sanctions. And advocated using cryptocurrency to get around this. “There could be sanctions in the banking sector,” he said. “You have to prepare an economy that gets around this.”

The opposition was horrified by the proposal and accused Netanyahu of trying to dismantle the Israeli economy. His vision is “a threat to national security,” said opposition politician Eisenkot. Israel's central bank also made it clear that cryptocurrencies could not be used to circumvent sanctions.

Meanwhile, several thousand people took to the streets in Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu. Footage shows crowds with Israeli flags flocking to the famous Geiselplatz.

Demonstrators are demanding that the prime minister take responsibility for the failure on October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other Palestinian militias killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostage in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu has so far refused to allow an independent commission of inquiry.