Thousands protest in Israel against Netanyahu ahead of fourth snap election

Thousands of people took to the streets throughout Israel to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just days ahead of the country's fourth general election in less than two years, Haaretz reported.

More than 20,000 people gathered at Paris Square, near the prime minister's official residence. This was the largest anti-Netanyahu protest since the weekly demonstrations began in July 2020.

Nationwide demonstrations have been taking place since July last year, with people demanding Netanyahu's resignation over alleged corruption scandals.

Next week, Israel is set to have its fourth snap election to the 24th Knesset, a unicameral national legislative body, following the collapse of Benjamin Netanyahu's center-right coalition.

The series of elections to the Israeli Knesset has been ongoing since April 2019. Twice the winning parties failed to form a majority coalition and create a government. After the last election in March 2020, the government was formed but ceased to exist half a year later.

Israel might have to hold a fifth consecutive snap election, as chances are extremely low that candidates in the upcoming vote manage to form a coalition, Sofi Ron-Moria, a candidate from the New Hope center-right party, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"I feel like we're going to a fifth-round if everything is going to happen according to the polls," Ron-Moria said, adding "we have a situation in which none of the parties can create a coalition."

( With inputs from ANI )