Two weeks before what is widely considered Israel’s most consequential election in decades, its streets are surprisingly empty of rallies and campaign posters, with voters seemingly more exhausted than engaged.
For a society that a few years ago saw hundreds of thousands pack central squares weekly to protest the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the listlessness is noteworthy.
“It’s the most significant election since 1949 and the most lackluster existential moment that I can recall,” said Yossi Klein Halevi, author of several books on Israel and a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.