Iran Press/ Middle East: It is the third election in under a year after previous rounds ended with neither of the two main party leaders in the Israeli regime being able to form a government.
It comes after Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, failed to agree on a governing coalition after two previous elections last April and September, so the Knesset voted to dissolve itself as Netanyahu failed to bridge the gap between secular and religious allies to form a coalition indicating a great chasm among the Israeli regime's parties.
The right-wing Likud party leader is seeking a record fifth term in office, while Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust under a number of cases in which he is alleged to have accepted lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors for more positive media coverage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criminal trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust is set to begin on March 17.
Those charges include offering favors to media moguls and of getting expensive gifts and positive press in return; such a case that has become known as Case 4000, in which Netanyahu allegedly promoted regulation that benefited a telecom company called the Bezeq Group, in exchange for favorable press coverage on a news site run by a subsidiary. Netanyahu denies the charges and says he is the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt.
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