Since the most recent Israeli elections resulted effectively in a stalemate, a second election has been called for September. Every indication from poll data is that the results will be no more conclusive the second time around, with neither the Likud nor its competitors able to form a coalition. Shmuel Rosner—after noting that a third election would be costly and demoralizing—comments:

On December 20, a Palestinian waited in a wooded area near a Jewish village in northern Israel in the hope of encountering a victim. Soon enough he spotted Esther Horgan walking home from an evening jog and killed her by beating her with a rock. He later told the police that he did the deed to avenge the death of Kamal Abu Wa’er, a terrorist in Israeli custody. Itamar Marcus explains: