Israel voted for Israel: Why Gaza wasn’t on the ballot

Israel’s parliament remains in deadlock.After one of the highest voter turnouts in decades, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the self-styled Zionist opposition alliance secured the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority in the October 27 polls.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Israel election result shows no overall majority as vote count completelist 2 of 4‘Arab voice doesn’t count’: Jewish Israeli blocs reject Palestinian supportlist 3 of 4Coalition wrangling, a second election: How Israel could break the deadlocklist 4 of 4Why is Netanyahu accusing Palestinian Israeli parties of fraud?end of listNetanyahu’s camp came first, with 53 seats, five more than the main opposition bloc. The Arab parties surged to a record 19 seats but have been relegated to merely observing coalition negotiations.Viewed from a distance, the results could appear startling.The judicial reforms ushered in at the start of Netanyahu’s government term in 2022 provoked the largest street protests in Israel’s history, while the prime minister himself is still embroiled in a corruption trial dating back to 2019. Alleged failures ahead of the Hamas-led attacks on Octob...