On the Israeli general election of 2021: will the deadlock be broken?
The Israeli general election of 23 March 2021, where results were not finalised for another 2 days due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, showed a significant partisan fragmentation that will make breaking the deadlock even harder than last year. This is also the fourth Israeli general election in less than 2 years, with the 23rd Knesset having lasted one year, the longest of the past three Knessets. Likud, the main conservative party of Israel, lost 7 seats, bringing it down to 30, despite the collapse of the main opposition coalition of last year's Israeli election, the centrist Blue & White Alliance. It is clear that Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to continue despite pending corruption charges against him and widespread protests against his subpar handling of the coronavirus pandemic in May and August 2020 is tarnishing Likud's reputation amongst conservative Israeli voters, especially those of a more religious (as opposed to secular) outlook, since Lik...