Israelis head to the polls

Israelis began voting Tuesday in a parliamentary election widely viewed as a referendum on longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. Netanyahu, who has held the position for a decade, is seeking to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister by securing his fifth term in office. His ruling Likud party faces major competition from former military chief Benny Gantz, whose new Blue and White party has emphasized ongoing corruption allegations against Netanyahu.

The two leading parties are competing with more than 40 others for the 120 seats in Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset. In a last-minute appeal ahead of the voting, Netanyahu promised to annex parts of the Palestinian West Bank as Israeli territory if he wins. International players warned the move would violate international law and the Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine, in which Israel agreed to limited Palestinian self-governance in territories such as the West Bank.

Shortly after voting, Gantz encouraged Israelis to go out and take responsibility for their democracy, adding that voting will “let us all wake up for a new dawn, a new history.”