26-04-2024 08:36 PM Jerusalem Timing

Israeli Knesset Election Kicks off As Lieberman Calls for Hamas Destruction

Israeli Knesset Election Kicks off As Lieberman Calls for Hamas Destruction

The Zionists started Thursday to cast ballots across the occupied territories to elect a new Knesset (parliament) amid a dead heat between the Likud party and the Zionist Union alliance.

Zionist entity: Isaac Herzog (L), Benjamin Netanyahu (R)The Zionists started Thursday to cast ballots across the occupied territories to elect a new Knesset (parliament) amid a dead heat between the Likud party and the Zionist Union alliance.

Recent polls indicated that competition is expected to be fierce between right-wing Likud headed by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionist Union, an alliance between the centrist Labor and Hatnuah parties led by MK Isaac Herzog and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni respectively.

Some voters expressed their frustration at the performance of Netanyahu's government and hinted that they would vote for other parties.

Israel's official electoral commission said the number of eligible voters for the 20th Knesset vote stood at 5,881,696, who would cast their ballots at 10,372 polling stations nationwide.

The commission has stressed that the Zionist elections system effectively guarantees the right to vote to every 18-year old and above Zionist, and the right to compete for a parliamentary seat to every citizen 21 and above.

Zionist Foreign Minister Avigdor LibermanEarlier on Monday, Zionist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that toppling Palestinian faction Hamas – which rules the Gaza Strip – should be the top priority of the next Zionist government.

"Hamas continues to dig tunnels and upgrade rockets because the Israeli leadership is weak," Lieberman said during a tour of Netiv HaAsara, a Zionist town built on the border with the Gaza Strip.

"This is why Israel has to change its way of dealing with this terrorist movement [Hamas resistance faction]," he added, according to the Zionist Public Radio.

Lieberman said the occupation entity could only sign an agreement with Hamas to prevent any future military confrontations only when the group's leaders were eliminated.

The Zionist authorities last attacked the Gaza Strip in July and August of 2014 for 51 days during which 2,160 Palestinians were killed and 11,000 others injured.