STORY: The parliamentary elections began in Israel on Tuesday morning – the fifth in almost four years. Israeli society is deeply divided between left and right. A tight election result is therefore expected. Forming a government – under whomever – is likely to be difficult. Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already been prime minister several times, is hoping for a comeback – even though he is on trial on corruption charges. According to the latest polls, Netanyahu’s Likud is likely to become the largest party. His entire right-wing camp, however, will probably just fall short of an absolute majority in the Knesset. The second strongest single party is likely to be the Future Party of incumbent Prime Minister Jair Lapid. According to the survey, the entire anti-Netanyahu alliance will win almost half of the seats in parliament. If neither of the two large blocs achieves a sufficient majority, it could lead to months of tough coalition negotiations and ultimately to renewed parliamentary elections. The political deadlock would continue and Lapid would remain in office as acting prime minister. The polling stations close at 10 p.m. local time, which corresponds to 9 p.m. in Germany. Then the first forecasts are expected directly.