A worried Israeli President Reuven Rivlin expressed a feeling of "deep shame" while voting on Monday for a third time in less than a year in elections that have failed to end the political crisis in the country.
In the third parliamentary elections, the country's longest serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival amid indictments on graft charges.
Neither Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, nor his main challenger, Benny Gantz -- leader of the Blue and White alliance -- were able to put together majority coalitions following the last two elections.
This is normally a festive day, but the truth is that I don't feel like celebrating. I only feel a sense of deep shame when I face you, my fellow citizens, Rivlin said after casting his vote at the Yefe Nof school in Jerusalem.
We just don't deserve this. We don't deserve another awful and grubby election campaign like the one that ends today and we don't deserve this never-ending instability. We deserve a government that works for us, the Israeli President said.
And so, he said urging, I ask you to go and vote. Every vote is the right one. Every vote is your voice. Go out and make it heard. I very much hope that we meet again only in 2024, or at least that I won't see another election campaign as President of the country that is so dear to us all."
"I have an uneasy feeling, shame even," said Rivlin prior to casting his vote.
The president made great effort to push Netanyahu and Gantz into forming a unity government following the second election in September 2019, saying the nation should not be forced to endure a further round of voting, ynetnews reported.
Rivlin said that despite the tumultuous political period Israel has experienced, "we deserve a government that will work for us all, and so, no matter how you feel, I ask you to go and vote."
The Central Elections Committee reported at around 10 am that 14.5 per cent of eligible voters had cast their ballots, which was half a percentage point lower compared to September 17 turnout.
Exit polls will be released immediately after 10 PM, with final results expected on Tuesday morning.
Israel's highly divided polity threw two inconclusive elections result in April 9 and September 17 polls with nobody managing to muster support of 61 Knesset members.
If the results of the third round of polls are aligned with current predictions, the stalemate is likely to linger which complicates the pitch for the Israeli prime minister who will go on trial in just two weeks after Monday's vote.
Netanyahu, 70, stands trial over a series of corruption allegations, which he has denied.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
