Deeply divided Israel braces for pivotal election

The prime minister has traditionally relied on a stable base of right-wing voters, but is projected to see a thinning of support in this election. Some voters may be slipping away to opposition parties like Eisenkot's. Others, including some die-hard Likud voters we spoke to, said the 7 October attacks had pushed them towards parties further on the right.Lt Col (Res) Eyal Hajbi, head of the regional civil defence unit in the Netanyahu stronghold of Sderot, right on the Gaza border, lost several friends and colleagues in the attacks. He lights candles for them every day in his office, and told me he would be thinking about them when he cast his ballot on Tuesday.Standing on a ridge overlooking the ruins of northern Gaza, he gestured to the wasteland where Israel's army has completely flattened the neighbourhoods of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun."As far as I'm concerned, after 7 October, we should wipe them all out," he said. "I've changed my understanding of Gaza. Before, I wouldn't have said we should destroy it."He told me he and his family had always voted Likud, but that now he was voting for the far-right party of Itamar Ben Gvir, Jewish Power."My family has become more extreme th...