Israeli election campaign enters final hours

Israelis to vote in general elections, widely expected to usher in government which will swing further to the right.

With less than 24 hours until Israelis vote in general elections, party leaders were campaigning down to the wire ahead of a ballot that is expected to return Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to office.

The vote on Tuesday is widely expected to usher in a government which will swing further to the right, whittling away at the chances of a peace deal with the Palestinians and raising the prospect of greater diplomatic isolation for Israel.

Those elected will face key diplomatic and foreign policy questions, including Iran's nuclear programme, which some governments believes is a cover for a weapons drive, and pressure to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

No less pressing are the domestic challenges, including a major budget crisis and looming austerity cuts which are likely to exacerbate already widespread discontent over spiralling prices and the cost of living.

For weeks, opinion polls have given a clear lead to Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud, which is running on a joint list with the hardline secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu.

Falling support

But as the day of reckoning neared, polls showed falling support for the joint list, which was seen taking 32 seats - 10 lower than they currently hold - or just over a quarter of the 120-seats in parliament.

With the campaign entering its home stretch, party leaders and activists fought to secure the support of the as-yet undecided 15 percent of the electorate, which press reports said amounted to 17 or 18 seats.

One of the key issues of the vote has been the public anger over the rising cost of living, with Netanyahu coming in for heavy criticism over his economic record.

In an 11th-hour attempt to sway voters, Netanyahu on Sunday night named a former Likud minister known for his success in slashing mobile phone costs to the top post in the Israel Land's Administration in a move he claimed would significantly lower the price of housing.

But his opponents slammed the move as a "fig leaf" and several pundits said it was testimony to the "panic" that Netanyahu was feeling ahead of the vote.

: World distracted as Israelis head to polls

There was a time when Israel was a top story. War and peace in the Middle East has always been big news. But today, at least in Israel, there is neither war nor peace, just that gray area between the two.

Israelis are going to the polls next Tuesday, but there's a feeling that little of great import to the rest of the world will be decided this time around. As political analyst Daniel Levy wrote in Foreign Policy, these elections are "about nothing." Consequently, there is less international interest in Tuesday's vote than usual.

What's at stake in Israel election?

It appears fairly certain that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will keep his job. The Israeli body politic will continue its rightward shift, with hardliners insisting on deepening Israel's now more than 45 year-old occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

Israel backpedals on plans not to deliver AWACS equipment

Israel, whose relations with Turkey have been strained since its troops staged a deadly attack on a Turkish passenger ship in which nine civilians were killed as part of a flotilla bringing supplies to Gaza in May 2010, has changed its mind about not delivering hardware to be installed on Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) military aircraft to Turkey.

Turkey bought four AWACS-compatible aircraft from the US in the early 2000s. A contract to install the electronic equipment to integrate the warning system with military planes was won by Israel, which earlier delivered two of the planned systems. However, it announced in 2011, following tension that began with the passenger ship attack, that it would not be delivering the remaining two systems.

But sources say Israel has changed its mind. A senior defense bureaucrat told Today's Zaman that Boeing, the manufacturer of the planes that will be integrated into the system, had to intervene. “Boeing told Israel that their refusal to complete the delivery was hurting their business, and Israel agreed to return the equipment,” he said.

The system allows a military aircraft to protect itself from electronic attacks targeting its controls during a flight. Israeli company IAI-Elta is manufacturing the electronic support system for the four aircraft, with the cost of the project amounting to $25 million. The system is expected to arrive in Turkey next month, following Boeing's intervention.