Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Linda Gradstein: CBS Middle East Correspondent on the election in Israel

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Linda Gradstein: CBS Middle East Correspondent on the election in Israel · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: Israel going to the voting booth today? Turnout so far
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  Speaker 1: at record levels. You've got Netanyahu hoping to cling on
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  Speaker 1: to power. You've got a former military chief in Eisencott
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  Speaker 1: who is nipping at his heels. Linda Gradstein, CBS Middle
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  Speaker 1: East correspondent in Jerusalem with us. Linda, how's it looking
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  Speaker 1: so far?
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  Speaker 2: Well, as you said, the turnout is really high and
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  Speaker 2: we don't know really the results. The polls are have
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  Speaker 2: been showing that Eisenkot, the former general chief of staff
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  Speaker 2: who lost a son and two nephews in the war
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  Speaker 2: since October 7th, slightly ahead of Netanyahu. The question, though,
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  Speaker 2: is who will be able to form a coalition? And
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  Speaker 2: that will reach a majority of 61 out of 120
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  Speaker 2: seats in the Knesset. And again, the polls show that
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  Speaker 2: the Eisenkot bloc or the bloc for change has 56, 55,
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  Speaker 2: 56 votes. The Netanyahu block for keeping Netanyahu in power
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  Speaker 2: has about 50. Now, the Arab citizens of Israel, who
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  Speaker 2: are about 20%, could put Eisenkot over the top. However,
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  Speaker 2: some of his partners have said that they will not
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  Speaker 2: be part of a government that includes Arab members of
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  Speaker 2: the Knesset. So it's really, we just don't know. It's
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  Speaker 2: going to depend on who can form a coalition. And
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  Speaker 2: if nobody can form a coalition, then they're Israel will
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  Speaker 2: go to another election, which has happened in the past
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: From what I've been reading so far, Linda, it seems
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  Speaker 1: very difficult to place. Well, Netanyahu on one side with
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  Speaker 1: the far right and the ultra orthodox, you can probably
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  Speaker 1: place in a particular basket, but quite hard to place
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  Speaker 1: the other block. Is it basically just anyone, but let's
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  Speaker 1: get rid or change the government?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's certainly part of it, but they also agree
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  Speaker 2: on other issues. For example, drafting the ultra orthodox, which
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  Speaker 2: is a big issue. in Israeli society. They agree that
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  Speaker 2: the education system has to be improved. Israel has dropped
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  Speaker 2: within the OECD countries to one of the lowest levels
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  Speaker 2: of education. So there is agreement on a lot of things.
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  Speaker 2: But Eisenkot has very little political experience. At the same time,
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  Speaker 2: he comes across as someone with integrity. If he does
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  Speaker 2: eventually form the coalition, he will be the first prime
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  Speaker 2: minister from what's called Mizrahi. In other words, his parents
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  Speaker 2: are Moroccan. He grew up in Eilat. So the other
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  Speaker 2: prime ministers like Netanyahu have all been Ashkenazi, sort of
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  Speaker 2: Eastern European, the founders of Israel and kind of seen
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  Speaker 2: a little bit more as the political and economic elite.
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  Speaker 1: What happens if Netanyahu, and look, we could be looking
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  Speaker 1: at weeks or months of, you know, political wrangling to
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  Speaker 1: actually form a government here. But if he does get
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  Speaker 1: the boot, what does it mean for Israel and the world?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's the question. I mean, right now, Israel is
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  Speaker 2: kind of a pariah in the world. And even with
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  Speaker 2: the United States, I mean, President Trump did endorse Netanyahu
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  Speaker 2: kind of at the last minute. But everywhere, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's increasing sanctions on Israel, increasing boycotts. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's possible that a different government will at
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  Speaker 2: least begin to improve Israel's position in the world. But Eisenkot,
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  Speaker 2: the former general, hasn't made that clear what exactly his
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  Speaker 2: position would be on issues like the Palestinians, the future
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  Speaker 2: of Gaza, things like that. So again, it's just too
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  Speaker 2: early to know. But I think that a lot of
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  Speaker 2: Israelis feel that it's really time for change, time for
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  Speaker 2: a new government. Netanyahu has been Israel's longest, more than
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  Speaker 2: 19 years. He's currently on trial in several issues of corruption,
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  Speaker 2: which he says, of course, he's completely innocent of. But
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  Speaker 2: I think there is a sense that Israelis want something else.
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  Speaker 2: The question is, will Eisenhower be able to put together
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  Speaker 2: a coalition that will be sort of centrist, And that
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  Speaker 2: will reflect the majority of how Israelis are feeling. Emigration
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  Speaker 2: from Israel has increased dramatically in the last few years.
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  Speaker 2: So there's really a sense that this election is perhaps
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  Speaker 2: the most crucial in the country's history.
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  Speaker 1: Linda Gradstein, great to have you on the program as always.
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  Speaker 1: CBS Middle East correspondent live from Jerusalem. For more from
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talk
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: ZB from 5 a.m.
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  Speaker 2: Weekdays or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.