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Election after election after ... Is it harming Israeli democracy?

With the deadline looming for forming a new government two months after an invective-filled general election, Israel is staring down a sobering anniversary.

Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first dissolved parliament last December in preparation for an earlier round of elections, a 鈥渢ransition鈥� caretaker-like government has effectively been running the country on autopilot, unable to embark on new policy directions or fund new initiatives.

There is no shortage of challenges. The nation鈥檚 health-care system and hospitals are underfunded; there鈥檚 no national budget for 2020; and a multi-year plan for the military is waiting for approval. To say nothing of transportation projects, a moribund peace process, or security: the strategic threat posed by Iran and a more powerful Hezbollah to the north, and the ever-present danger of escalation in Gaza.

But the prolonged deadlock鈥檚 biggest danger, some warn, may be to Israelis鈥� faith in their political system.

With the real prospect that Israel could be headed to a third consecutive round of elections that would extend the political paralysis beyond a year, the nation鈥檚 factions are pointing fingers at one another, making preemptive accusations about who will be to blame.

The parties have until midnight Wednesday to forge a compromise on a governing coalition, but President Reuven Rivlin and political analysts are already warning about the damage to public faith in political institutions if that fails.聽

A late October poll by the Israel Democracy Institute testing public optimism over Israel鈥檚 democracy found a 10 percentage point drop from April,聽the date of the first election.

鈥淚f it were a private business that couldn鈥檛 make decisions, competition would be going ahead and it would be in serious danger of going into a decline. Just because we鈥檙e talking about government doesn鈥檛 mean we can allow ourselves to complacently continue with such a situation,鈥欌�� says Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute.聽聽聽

鈥淭he public is strongly opposed to a third election campaign, even though the public is unhappy about the election results,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey wanted a decisive election outcome. They don鈥檛 think another聽election will change anything, and they expect the politicians and the political system to sort things out.鈥�

Indictments expected

The endgame of this phase of Israel鈥檚 political stalemate is as uncertain as ever: Mr. Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, is fighting for his political life against retired general Benny Gantz amid a cloud of dramatic eleventh-hour brinkmanship.

In a matter of days, Israel has careened from a deadly escalation with Gaza militants that briefly shut down half the country, to a race-baiting offensive by the prime minister Sunday. Mr. Netanyahu charged that Mr. Gantz was poised to cement a political alliance with Israeli Arab lawmakers who he alleged support terrorist organizations and want to destroy Israel.聽

Mr. Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, is working against the Wednesday deadline, when his mandate to form a government expires. The prime minister, meanwhile, and right-wing rival Avigdor Lieberman appear to be making an effort to resolve a bitter rift that has prevented establishment of a new right-wing coalition.

And all this is unfolding as Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit聽is thought to be days away from handing down a set of corruption indictments against Mr. Netanyahu that could throw Israeli politics into even more turmoil and shift the tide decisively against the prime minister.聽

鈥淚srael鈥檚 exhausted political system has moved to a game of chicken 鈥� two cars hurtling toward one another on a narrow road. Someone needs to blink and swerve to the shoulder at the last minute,鈥欌�� wrote political commentator Yossi Verter in the liberal Haaretz newspaper. 鈥淎s of Sunday, neither driver, Benjamin Netanyahu nor Benny Gantz, intends to give in. A head-on collision, which means elections, remains a likely option.鈥�

The political limbo, combined with the looming charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust against Mr. Netanyahu, have sharpened speculation among his critics that the government鈥檚 decision to authorize the Nov. 12 targeted killing of an Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip was colored by political calculations.聽聽

The resulting outburst of fighting left 34 Gazans dead 鈥撀爄ncluding an entire family 鈥� and dozens injured, and rained hundreds of rockets down on southern Israel.

Suspicions about timing

At an 鈥渆mergency conference鈥� of his Likud party Sunday night, Mr. Netanyahu accused Mr. Gantz of holding coalition talks with enemies of the state, and warned that a minority government supported by the predominantly Arab Joint List party would mark a 鈥渂reaking point鈥� for Israel and represent a terrorist attack on the country.聽聽聽

鈥淏lue and White are negotiating with Knesset members who support terrorist organizations and want to destroy the country,鈥� Mr. Netanyahu inveighed. 鈥淚f a minority government is formed, they will be celebrating in Tehran, Ramallah, and Gaza, like after a terrorist attack. It will be a historic attack on the state of Israel.鈥澛犅�

Though Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Atta was described by the prime minister and Israeli army generals as a 鈥渢icking bomb鈥� involved in the planning of rocket attacks on southern Israel, Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 broadside has reinforced speculation that the attack鈥檚 coinciding with Mr. Gantz鈥檚 efforts to form a coalition may have been more than mere coincidence.聽聽聽

鈥淚n the last year and a half, there鈥檚 been plenty of opportunities to eliminate [Abu Al-Ata] and other senior figures in Islamic Jihad and Hamas, but the cabinet has demurred from doing so,鈥欌�� wrote Omer Bar-Lev, a Labor Party Knesset member, last week. 鈥淲hy has Netanyahu changed his position now, seven days before the end of Gantz鈥檚 mandate to compose a government? The answer, I鈥檓 afraid, is clear.鈥欌��

Such suspicions are shared by members of the public. Oded Ginzburg, an architect from Tel Aviv, says he also suspects the timing of last week鈥檚 assassination was calibrated to Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 political calendar.聽

鈥淗e鈥檚 playing with Israeli citizens鈥� minds, but Israeli citizens aren鈥檛 empowered to make any change,鈥欌�� Mr. Ginzburg says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just the audience. We鈥檙e in the crowd.鈥澛�

He speculates that if Mr. Netanyahu is nudged aside and the political crisis is resolved, it won鈥檛 necessarily lead to dramatic changes in foreign or domestic policy, but it could help bolster Israel鈥檚 governing system and the rule of law. The stalemate is a symptom of the weakness of Israel鈥檚 government, he adds, and related to political polarization faced by other democracies around the world.

No solution from public

Daniel Ben-David, an economist at Tel Aviv University, says Israel is 鈥渕uddling around鈥� with a caretaker government, and the state of limbo is damaging for the government system. For the time being, government programs are going unfunded, not to mention the neglect of badly needed reforms in the country鈥檚 education system.

鈥淭he money that we need, needs to go to hospitals, health care, transportation infrastructure, and fixing our schools,鈥欌�� says Mr. Ben-David.

Dahlia Scheindlin, a public opinion expert, says the Israeli public is frustrated that politicians seem to be looking out more for their own interests. And while most want to see a national unity government, few want the leader they support to serve under the rival.聽

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want third elections,鈥� she explains, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 know if the public knows how to solve it better.鈥欌��

According to a poll by the Israel Hayom newspaper, a plurality of Israelis support a power-sharing national-unity government between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz. However, the sides won鈥檛 budge on who would start off as prime minister, and what parties would be in the government.

鈥淚 wish they will form a national unity government. Who wouldn鈥檛 want something like that in the country? But it doesn鈥檛 look like it will happen,鈥� says Eti Dor, a hairdresser. 鈥淓ach person is in their own corner. Everyone is pulling toward their side.鈥欌��

The prospect of new elections is worrying, she says, because its projected cost would be better spent on Israel鈥檚 health system. It would also be a sign of instability akin, she says, to the southern European governments that have collapsed frequently over the years.

鈥淲e鈥檝e become like Italy,鈥� she says.