Netanyahu Suggests Postponing Elections Till After Elections

This biggest issue: polling places as superspreader venues.

Jerusalem, February 15 – Worrisome COVID infection levels have prompted Israel’s prime minister to float the idea of waiting to hold the next round of national voting until following the next round of national voting, sources close to the premier disclosed today.

Binyamin Netanyahu made the remarks in a meeting with staff at the Prime Minister’s Office during which he requested a detailed proposal on delaying the upcoming elections – scheduled for March 23 – until after upcoming elections take place on March 23.

“This biggest issue here is polling places as superspreader venues,” explained an aide to the prime minister, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Right now, even though Israel leads the world by a large margin in the immunization rollout, our new infection numbers have not gone down, and of late have even spiked. The wisest course of action might be to delay until after everybody votes on March 23, and only then have election day. We need to give the current extended lockdown and the immunization drive time to reduce the problematic infection statistics.”

The aide acknowledged the slim likelihood of such a move occurring, not least owing to its questionable legality. “March 23 is when the law dictates we hold the next elections,” the aide conceded. “It would take political and legislative maneuvering beyond the current will of the parties involved in such a decision. Still, in the interest of public health it pays to be thorough, and if we can make a compelling case soon enough, we can at least try to prevail on enough lawmakers to shift the election until after the election.”

Political considerations also tie into the idea, commentators observed. “Already the court has agreed to delay the presentation of the prosecution’s case in the prime minister’s corruption trial until after the election,” noted Haaretz legal analyst Tarti de Satri. “So we have a conceptual precedent for such a postponement. But there are political implications – extending the time for elections until after the elections is a gamble on the part of the prime minister and his rivals, because who knows what will shift between now and after the elections? Holding an election after the election might work in his favor but it might not. It could prove costly to him, considering the day-to-day shifts in polling data, or it could be yet another shrewd move of the type that has cemented his reputation as more or less a political magician.”

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