Daily Beast: “From a suspiciously timed lockdown lift to the recruitment of bizarre, extremist allies, Benjamin Netanyahu is sparing no effort to win Israel’s next election and establish what he calls ‘a full-on right-wing government.’ Meanwhile, he has consistently asserted that voters will reward him for the country’s unparalleled anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive, a saving grace for citizens after a long year of lockdowns and economic woes. Unfortunately for Netanyahu, the polls show otherwise, and many observers believe he is assiduously preparing to undermine the legitimacy of the March 23 vote if it does not bring him a clear victory. If the direst predictions do come true, and infections resurge around Election Day, the ensuing mayhem could help maintain his grip on power.”

“Even while aggressively courting Arab-Israeli voters – who make up about 20 percent of Israel’s electorate – the Likud continued to spread unfounded claims about Arab attempts to ‘steal the election.’ Netanyahu went so far as to send an emissary to the Palestinian Authority, a government he routinely refers to as a terrorist entity, warning them against voting for the Arab-majority Joint List party to better his chances at filling Israel’s parliament with his own allies. ‘Netanyahu has lost all shame,’ protested Gideon Saar, a former Likud minister now challenging Netanyahu as head of the New Hope party. ‘He is trying to involve the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization] in elections within the State of Israel.’ Yoaz Hendel, Netanyahu’s former director of communications who is now with Saar, compared the move to the Ukraine scheme that provoked Donald Trump’s first impeachment. ‘Netanyahu does the same without even thinking twice,’ he said. A spate of polls show that after 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule, most Israelis want to see a change. Surveys published by major media outlets this week showed the Likud hovering at 28 or 29 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, with the centrist Yesh Atid rising to 20. Ben Caspit, author of The Netanyahu Years, is convinced that if Netanyahu loses, his inner circle would use the defeat as an opportunity to incite an insurrectionary event.”