BICOM

Israeli politicians engaged in a final plea for votes today in the last day of the election campaign.

The two leading parties, the Likud and Blue and White, are campaigning on a similar theme that a vote for any other party is a vote for their rivals. The Blue and White party said yesterday: “Every vote that isn’t cast for Blue and White is a vote for Bibi [Netanyahu].” Benny Gantz said that Netanyahu is: “Neither a messiah nor an irreplaceable legend” and that it was time for him to leave the government after 13 years in office.

He added: “There is an historic need and an opportunity for change, because for the first time, within three months, we set up a real governmental alternative that has not existed in the last ten years.”

Former Likud Minister Dan Meridor, former Chief of Staff and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and former IDF Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin all endorsed Gantz’s bid to become Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote in Yediot Ahronoth yesterday that: “The only way to ensure a right-wing government and to prevent a left-wing government from being formed is by voting for the Likud. A ballot for the Likud is a ballot for the right-wing parties, all of which will be part of the Likud government that we form, if we receive your votes.”

Netanyahu also warned against apathy among right-wing voters after fear of a low turnout forced the Likud to cancel a rally in Jerusalem.

New Right leader Naftali Bennett criticised the Likud for poaching right-wing voters. He said: “The ‘oh-no’ campaign that Netanyahu started is meant to bring down the small right-wing parties. This signals that they’re going for a Gantz-Netanyahu government in order to get the Palestinian state that Trump is preparing.”

Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon warned that: “Without a strong Kulanu, we will find ourselves with [Moshe] Feiglin as finance minister, with no allowances for the disabled and the elderly”.

Labour Party leader Avi Gabbay said that if his party does poorly in the elections, Gantz will likely join a right-wing government. He said: “We are in a real political battle over the character of Israel vis-à-vis Netanyahu and the right-wing government, but we are also in a political battle on the question of whether Gantz will go with the right wing or follow the path of the Labour Party.”