Israeli elections may not throw up a decisive winner

THE Israeli electorate goes to the polls on Tuesday in a ballot that has attracted unusually high international attention. This is largely because Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli's polarising and second longest-serving prime minister, appears vulnerable to defeat against a "Zionist-centre" alternative which would seek to repair ties with the Obama administration, and resume peace talks with the Palestinians.

Latest polls appear to show momentum moving toward the Zionist-centre which is a pact between the Labor Party, headed by Isaac Herzog, and former justice minister Tzipi Livni who leads the Hatenua party. However, even if this centrist bloc wins more seats than Mr Netanyahu's conservative Likud party, it would still need to overcome the hurdle of forming a coalition with a variety of nationalist and religious parties to secure the requisite 61 seats in the Knesset.

While international issues, including the potential forthcoming US-led nuclear deal with Iran, are forming the context to the election, domestic economic issues are uppermost in many Israeli minds. Specifically, the rising cost of living, including housing costs. Last month, for instance, a report by the Israeli state comptroller put "substantial blame" on the Netanyahu government for a greater than 50 per cent rise in house price over the past five years, in part because of the bureaucratic delays slowing down house building.