Elections not to change Israel’s policies: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Professor Jennifer Loewenstein, from the University of Madison, and Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress from Washington DC, to discuss Israel’s parliamentary elections.

Loewenstein says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an “abysmal” politician who has done very little for improving his own people’s social conditions, adding that his potential failure in the elections would not change Tel Aviv’s foreign policy especially with regards to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

On the contrary, Korb believes that the victory of Netanyahu’s opponent party would revive hopes for a negotiated solution to tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.

Based on reports, Netanyahu leads the elections with 96 percent of the ballot boxes counted. Accordingly, Likud party has so far secured 29 seats and its nearest rival, the center-left Zionist Union, won 24 seats in the Tuesday parliamentary polls, reported Ynetnews, the website for Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.

The United Arab List is in third place with 14 seats, followed by the centrist Yesh Atid with 11 seats, and Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu with 10 seats.