Clowns, ﬁre-breathing and beasts out of cages: it's the Israeli election circus - The Jewish Chronicle

Six weeks to go until the Israeli election and the campaigns are mired in allegations of illegal funding and corruption.

This week, Likud accused the Labour party of being linked to V-15, a group that claims not to be affiliated with any of the parties and is calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be replaced.

Likud lodged a complaint with the central elections commission, claiming that the foreign funding for V-15 are actually illegal donations to Labour. Both V-15 and Labour have denied there are any connections between them.

While no proof has yet emerged to substantiate its claims, Likud is seeking to remind the public how Labour leader Yitzhak Herzog remained silent over the illegal funding of former prime minister Ehud Barak's campaign.

Mr Herzog, who went on to serve as cabinet secretary in the Barak government, had been one of those who set up "citizens groups" that allegedly funnelled donations to Mr Barak's campaign from Jewish millionaires outside Israel.

The Likud fight-back is also part of an attempt to deflect attention from allegations that funds were misused at the prime minister's official residence, including the recent accusation that Sara Netanyahu pocketed deposits on bottles to be recycled.

Meanwhile, the State Comptroller, Yosef Shapira, who was previously accused of suppressing information on the Netanyahus' use of official funds, was pushed to announce that he would publish a special report in two weeks, rather than postponing it until after the elections.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is examining the issue as well.

This week, Mr Weinstein's office also denied reports that he had postponed further investigations into the massive kickback case which has so far involved senior members of Yisrael Beiteinu. A number of MKs of other parties are also expected to be named as suspects and the attorney general clarified that the elections were not a reason to delay their questioning.

In a dramatic manifestation of the tensions between parties, Hatnuah leader Tzipi Livni confronted Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett at a speaking event after he accused her of carrying out a U-turn on whether Israel should consider withdrawing from the Golan. She told him: "I have no problem debating ideology, I have a problem with liars in politics."

The flurry of accusations this week drew attention away from the unveiling of Labour's economic manifesto and the new centrist party Kulanu's plans for reform of the housing and banking sector. Some analysts believe that party leader and former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon could become the election's kingmaker.

The allegations so far seem to have had little effect on voters' intentions. The general picture remains static with the only noticeable shift from previous weeks being a slight rise in Likud's fortunes, with polls putting it two or three Knesset seats above Labour. Most of those moving to Likud seem to be coming from Habayit Hayehudi which is slightly down in the polls.