Afp, Jerusalem

Israel held its third election in less than a year yesterday seeking to break a grinding political deadlock, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chasing re-election while facing criminal indictment.

The campaign, which included tit-for-tat mudslinging between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and main challengers Blue and White, was condemned by President Reuvin Rivlin as “awful and grubby.”

Voicing the feelings of many ballot-weary Israelis after nearly a year of political stalemate and a caretaker government, Rivlin said the Jewish state does not “deserve this never-ending instability.”

The vote comes just two weeks before Netanyahu, the longest-serving premier in Israeli history, stands trial after being formally charged in January with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

But final polls indicated that Netanyahu, the first Israeli prime minister ever indicted in office, had not lost support since inconclusive elections in April and September.

Voting in the central town of Rosh Haayin, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz voiced hope that Israelis would finally “change the tune” after 11 years of the current Netanyahu tenure.

But Likud and the centrist Blue and White are both expected to fall well short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and will have to strike deals with smaller parties to forge a stable coalition.