'Very anxious and very nervous': Israel on election eve, in a race full of wild cards

 

As the hours count down before Israelis head to the polls, and Israeli high-ranking officers warn that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may want to strike Iran before Tuesday's election - the stakes are clearly high. But they are perceived as being even higher for one political camp, according to Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, speaking on the final Haaretz Election Podcast ahead of Tuesday’s election.

"When people ask, 'Do Israelis see this as life and death?' - the answer is yes - for opposition voters," said Scheindlin, a veteran political strategist, pollster and Haaretz columnist. 

She described the mood at a Saturday night opposition election rally - hammering home the need to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government as "somewhat celebratory, but also a lot of anxiety. I heard a lot of people saying, 'I'm here, but I'm scared.'"

Together with fellow columnist Joshua Leifer - who admitted to being "very anxious" and "very nervous ahead of Election Day" - and podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Scheindlin assessed the late-breaking developments on the eve of the election which appears - according to the final election polls - doomed to result in a deadlock. 

"We are in for a long time of coalition wrangling, unless we see some sort of late-stage surprise surge," Scheindlin said.

Read the latest developments on haaretz.com. 

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