Pastor acquitted after being arrested when police helicopter found church gathering outside during pandemic

A Canadian pastor who was arrested twice in 2021 for continuing to congregate with his church in Calgary, Alberta, during the pandemic was acquitted of the public health-related charges against him Tuesday.

The Provincial Court of Alberta tossed out charges against Pastor Tim Stephens alleging he violated provincial public health orders regarding physical distancing, his attorneys at the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced in a press release.

Stephens was imprisoned twice last year for keeping his Fairview Baptist Church open. His second arrest, which reportedly happened after a police helicopter found his church gathering outside after police had locked their church, prompted Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to send a letter to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urging it to consider adding Canada to its watch list.

"We are pleased that the Court has acquitted Pastor Stephens on the charges of not complying with a public health order," attorneys for Stephens said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Pastor Stephens was illegally arrested and imprisoned for having allegedly violated the public health orders, which have since been shown to be ineffective and harmful."

"This decision sets the record straight about the justifiability of his actions and about the importance of respecting Charter rights and freedoms," the statement added.

CANADIAN PASTOR JAILED FOR HOLDING CHURCH DURING COVID WELCOMES PARDON, BLASTS TRUDEAU

Stephens' acquittal comes weeks after Danielle Smith, Alberta's new premier, promised a plan to pardon COVID offenders in the province. Her administration follows that of Jason Kenney, who publicly apologized after his political opponents excoriated him when he was secretly photographed violating his own COVID rules 24 times during one dinner with his cabinet ministers in 2021, according to the Western Standard.

In a recent speech at her political party's annual general meeting, the new premier noted that the pastors who were arrested in Alberta ​​"come to top of mind" when she thinks of people who were unfairly penalized for disobeying the COVID rules in Canada, which has had some of the strictest mandates in the world.

CANADIAN LEADER CONSIDERS DROPPING COVID LOCKDOWN CHARGES, APOLOGIZES TO UNVACCINATED

Stephens told Fox News Digital that he regards Smith's rhetoric as "welcome news" that indicates she understands "the gross violations of religious and civil liberties of lockdowns and mandates."

"She has made it clear that this discrimination was politically motivated; that it was the political science and not the medical science that led to the persecution of churches or individuals who would not go along with the prevailing narrative as a matter of conscience or conviction," Stephens said.

"What has happened to me has only furthered the cause of Christ, and for that I rejoice," he continued. "Yet as we head into another flu season, it is a relief to know we have a leader who understands the discrimination and abuses of power over the past few years. As Christians, we pray for our leaders and that their governing would be in according to God's principles, which lead to freedom and prosperity."

CANADIAN PASTOR DEFIANT AS JUDGE ORDERS HIM TO PARROT ‘MEDICAL EXPERTS’ FROM PULPIT: ‘I WILL NOT OBEY’

Stephens was one of several pastors who were imprisoned in Alberta for refusing to obey the government by shuttering their churches. Pastor James Coates, who is a friend of Stephens and was the first clergyman to be jailed in Canada in the name of public health, spent more than a month in prison in 2021 after he reopened his GraceLife Community Church in Edmonton, which is about a three-hour drive north from Calgary.

Federal law enforcement later raided GraceLife's building at dawn, locked it and barricaded it behind three layers of fencing.

"I’m grateful for the leadership change and the political shift that has taken place in our province and country," Coates told Fox News Digital. "Kudos to the trucker convoy and all that they accomplished. In a sense, I think they finished what we started."

Coates also expressed gratitude to the new premier "for her courage in speaking up against the disgraceful way we were treated by our government. Though it brought about a wonderful occasion for the glory of Christ to be displayed, it was nevertheless a miscarriage of justice." 

CANADIAN PROTESTER'S TRUCK SEIZED, BANK ACCOUNTS FROZEN OVER CONNECTION TO FREEDOM CONVOY

The pastor expressed concern that any potential pardon would "potentially get the court system off the hook in terms of having to rule on the constitutional issues."

"The courts having to rule on that which is outstanding could go either way in terms of setting precedent, but given the way decisions seem to be being slow-walked, there’s a growing sense of vindication," he said.

"In the end, it’s likely the government will think twice before ever repeating the injustices of the pandemic," Coates added. "So in that sense, we might be able to say, mission accomplished."

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Israel election: Early exit polls show Netanyahu poised to return to power

JERUSALEM, Israel – As polls closed on yet another election day in Israel, millions of Israelis waited anxiously to see if, after five rounds of voting in less than four years, they would be able to finally choose a clear winner and produce a stable government to successfully run the country.

Early exit polls predicted that former prime minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu might very well be that winner this time around. His bloc of right-wing, religious parties was slated to draw up to 62 seats, the number of mandates needed to form a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. 

Yesh Atid, the party of Netanyahu’s main rival, interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid, appeared set to garner only 24 seats, according to the polls. The assortment of parties that would be willing to support him in forming an anti-Netanyahu government were only slated to reach 55 seats. Two key parties appeared as though they would not pass the electoral threshold. 

The final result of what could be the country’s most decisive election yet — bringing an end to an endless cycle of elections — will not be known for at least the next few hours and possibly the next few days or even weeks, if votes are contested. In addition, if any of the parties hovering at the electoral threshold do indeed break through, the final numbers could change dramatically.

LIKUD CANDIDATE PREDICTS NETANYAHU WILL BE NEXT ISRAELI PM, WILL HELP HOLD IRAN ACCOUNTABLE

"Netanyahu will be the next prime minister," Aviv Bushinsky, a political commentator and a former chief of staff for Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital after the exit polls were published on local broadcasts.

"For a long time it was unclear, and we went from one election to another but while the last government was creative, it was unstable," he said, adding that the results — if accurate — show that the public felt that lack of stability and was not happy with an Arab party being included in the makeup of the outgoing government. 

Although, he warned, "If the Arab parties do pass the threshold, then the whole political map could change." 

Assaf Shapira, Director of the Political Reform Program at the Israel Democracy Institute also told Fox News Digital, that "we will have to wait for the final results to see if this is accurate," 

"All of the exit polls predict between 61-62 seats for the pro-Netanyahu political bloc, which was quite expected," he said, adding however that previous exit polls in 2021 also gave Netanyahu between 61-62 seats, but they missed one small Arab party that ended up becoming a decisive factor that allowed the other factions to unite and oust Netanyahu from power. 

"It could be that the exit polls do not know how to treat the Arab public and understand the trends in that sector less," he said.

NETANYAHU PLOTS RETURN AS ISRAELIS VOTE FOR NEW GOVERNMENT

According to polls leading up to Tuesday’s vote, the Arab public, which makes up around 20 percent of Israel’s population, was expected to stay away from polling stations, and it is still unclear if that happened. Israel’s Central Election Committee said that overall voter turnout was the highest ever since the 1999 election — a vote that saw Netanyahu, in his first round as prime minister, defeated by former prime minister Ehud Barak. 

While Israel’s parliamentary system means that no single political party can win an election outright, the largest party is usually the one afforded the first chance to try forming a coalition with other factions. It’s a complicated jigsaw of smaller parties that typically align with similar ideologies. mostly relating to the conflict with the Palestinians. 

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR CONDEMNS UN COMMISSION FOR 'ONE-SIDED' REPORT ON PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Over the past four years of political limbo, however, alliances have also been forged over the question of whether Netanyahu, who in July 2019 became the country’s longest-serving prime minister, should lead the country.

Netanyahu is currently embroiled in a high-profile criminal trial over allegations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. It is these charges, which include activities involving lavish gifts and high-stakes business deals with millionaires and national infrastructure companies, that forced the former prime minister to first call an election in Dec. 2018. 

Breaking up his government four years ago, Netanyahu was hoping for a decisive election result that would shore up his support and prove that despite the criminal investigations, he was still beloved by a loyal public. Following an election in April 2019, however, he was unable to pull together a government, with key allies and political partners unwilling to overlook his legal woes. Netanyahu was forced to call an unprecedented second election five months later. 

The September 2019 vote also produced no clear winner and no clear path for Netanyahu — or any other political leader — to establish a government and the country was forced to hold a third election in March 2020, which produced a short-lived coalition with current Defense Minister Benny Gantz. 

That shaky alliance lasted less than a year before a fourth election was held in March 2021, with Netanyahu’s rivals, including for the first time ever an Arab-Israeli political party, finally ousting him from power. Naftali Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally, became prime minister, with Lapid, serving initially as alternate prime minister. But internal disagreements — mainly over core ideological differences between the eight factions — led to that government's downfall in June. Tuesday’s vote appears to make it unlikely that such an alliance will arise again this time.

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Russia expands Ukraine evacuation orders in occupied Kherson

Russia on Tuesday expanded its evacuation orders in the southern Kherson region over unsupported claims that Ukraine is gearing up to use "prohibited methods of war."

Moscow-installed officials ordered Ukrainians to leave the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in a move that Kyiv has condemned as an attempt to forcibly deport its citizens to Russia, reported Reuters. 

Intense fighting has raged for months in the city of Kherson as Ukrainian forces look to retake the southern region after an eight-month-long occupation. 

KEY UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE HIT BY RUSSIAN STRIKES: OFFICIALS

Earlier this month, Russia called on its top security officials and their families to flee the area before ordering evacuations from Kherson. 

That order was expanded by Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-installed head of the Kherson region, Tuesday in a video message, where he called on all Ukrainians in a 9-mile radius of the Dnieper River to evacuate. 

"Due to the possibility of the use of prohibited methods of war by the Ukrainian regime, as well as information that Kyiv is preparing a massive missile strike on the Kakhovka hydroelectric station, there is an immediate danger of the Kherson region being flooded," Saldo reportedly claimed.

"Given the situation, I have decided to expand the evacuation zone by 15 km from the Dnieper," he said. "The decision will make it possible to create a layered defense in order to repel Ukrainian attacks and protect civilians."

WHITE HOUSE SAYS US WILL 'HOLD RUSSIA ACCOUNTABLE' IF THEY ATTACK COMMERCIAL SATELLITES IN UKRAINE

Kyiv and Western allies have decried Moscow’s blatant push to forcibly deport Ukrainian citizens since the onslaught of the war. 

Earlier this month, Russia claimed it had knowledge of Ukrainian intent to deploy a "dirty bomb" – a primitive weapon that detonates by using a conventional explosive like dynamite but releases radioactive materials.

No such device has yet been used by either Russia or Ukraine, and the U.S., France and the U.K. condemned the claims as "transparently false."

The Kherson region has become not only one of the hardest fought over regions since the war began, but one of the most strategically consequential as crossing the Dnieper River would push Ukrainian forces closer to Crimea – which Kyiv has vowed to retake after being under Russian occupation since 2014.

Ukrainian defense officials have remained ambiguous on operational updates in Kherson, but reporting in recent days suggests that weather and on-the-ground conditions have slowed Ukrainian advancements.

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Nigeria's deforestation threatens traditional medicine

As a herbal medicine practitioner in southwest Nigeria, Egunbiyi Yinusa has spent his life treating patients, using herbs and plants long plentiful and easy to find.

But when the traditional healer set out from his home in Oyo state last July in search of the root of the increasingly rare violet tree - used to treat sexually transmitted infections - he came back empty handed five hours later.

"I have not seen (it) in almost two years," said Yinusa, who is in his sixties and learned the practice from his father when he was a teenager.

ILLEGAL ROAD IN BRAZILIAN AMAZON BRINGS THREAT OF FURTHER DEFORESTATION

Other medicinal plants, such as Cyanthula prostrate, locally called sawerepepe and used to treat asthma, are also much rarer.

"Now getting them requires going deep into the forests," said Yinusa, explaining that sawerepepe had become much harder to find as a result of deforestation around the town of Oyo.

Over the past decade, Nigeria's traditional medicinal plants have become far more scarce, according to practitioners and researchers, with forest losses, overharvesting and more extreme weather linked to climate change endangering vital species.

That presents a threat not just to the careers of traditional herbalists including Yinusa and the health of their patients - but to the country's tradition and culture.

Traditional medicine is the main source of healthcare for 80% of the population - particularly in rural areas - according to Nigeria's health ministry, and the World Health Organization (WHO) says the proportion is similar across sub-Saharan Africa.

Many Nigerians either cannot afford or are unable to access modern health services - which are often constrained by a lack of staff and funding - so at a community level they rely heavily on traditional medicine.

But the increasing scarcity of medicinal plants is driving up the cost of traditional healthcare for the public - while concerns are growing over the quality of alternative solutions.

"It's a slippery slope ... the increase in price (means) a lot of people can't afford it, which is gradually reducing accessibility to healthcare," said Adelodun Majekobaje, a doctoral researcher at U.S.-based Louisiana State University.

"(And) when a particular medicinal plant is unavailable, traditional doctors will go for an alternative which they have not actually tried to see whether it's effective, thereby making herbal drugs less efficacious," the forest science expert added.

Deforestation

In the city of Osogbo in Osun state - just east of Oyo - another traditional practitioner, Hossein Ajulo, said he had also been struggling to find the right plants in recent years.

There is "increasing difficulty to get herbs varies. There are some that I still struggle to get within the town," said the 32-year-old, who has practiced traditional medicine for a decade and, like Yinusa, learned the trade from his family.

"I have to travel to get some now, or reach out to herb collectors outside, and this was not the case before," he added.

Nigeria has more than 8,000 plant species with potential medicinal benefits, and data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists 15 plant species in the country as critically endangered, 18 as endangered, and 146 as threatened.

The main factor behind this is widespread deforestation driven by industrial development, followed by other drivers including the effects of climate change, said Adeniyi Jayeola, a botany professor at the University of Ibadan in Oyo state.

Between 2001 and 2021, Nigeria lost 2.8 million acres of tree cover, equivalent to an 11% decrease since 2000, according to Global Forest Watch, a monitoring and data platform.

In 2018, the Nigerian government said the country had lost 96% of its original forests due to deforestation.

But the problem facing medicinal plants is even more concerning than such data might suggest, Jayeola said.

"Even forests that are still there can no longer house a lot of medicinal plants because of habitat fragmentation, which is now very common across the continent," he said, explaining that some plants cannot thrive in damaged forests.

Calls For Regulation

Several traditional medicine practitioners said the cost of obtaining herbal treatments had increased for them due to the scarcity of the plants and the rising costs of paying people throughout the value chain - from collectors to distributors.

"Though we try not to increase the cost of drugs and treatments because we believe we're helping people ... there is a very significant change in price," Yinusa said, adding that the rise had been 50-100% on average over the last four years.

To address shortages, Shaba Meikudi, president of the National Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners, said creating new botanical gardens could ensure that "we can raise these medicinal plants that are gradually being wiped away".

Nigeria has 34 botanical gardens - which are mostly managed by universities and state agencies - to protect plant species.

However, Jayeola, who also heads up the botanical garden at the University of Ibadan - one of the oldest in Nigeria - said they are insufficient to tackle the medicinal plant shortage, and called for the introduction of "extractive gardens".

Such gardens would be strictly designed for business purposes and used to raise endangered medicinal plants for traditional practitioners to buy, Jayeola said, adding that such gardens had proved effective in South Africa.

The academic also urged the Nigerian government to regulate the collection of plants in order to protect biodiversity.

"If you go to the forests, you'll see trees dying because some practitioners debarked them wrongly," Jayeola said.

"Unless there are procedures that guide this process, the medicinal benefits of some plants will lead to their death."

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Russia deploys MiG-31 jets with ballistic 'Killjoy' missile to Belarus: UK intel

Western defense officials on Tuesday warned that Russia had "almost certainly" deployed at least two MiG-31K Foxhound jets and an AS-24 Killjoy ballistic missile in Belarus. 

The U.K.’s defense ministry said the deployment of the missile, which has a range of up to 1,200 miles, is the first time Moscow has placed one of its limited Killjoy munitions in Belarus.

"Russia has occasionally launched these weapons during the Ukraine war, but stocks are likely very limited," officials said in a daily intelligence update.

BIDEN SHOUTED AT UKRAINE'S ZELENSKYY DURING TENSE AID PHONE CALL: REPORT

The MiG-31K is "adapted to carry" the ballistic missile, but defense officials argued the deployment of the weapons to Belarus would do little to strategically advance Russia in its war in Ukraine.

"It continues to expend its advanced long-range munitions against targets of limited operational importance," the intelligence briefing said. "Basing KILLJOY in Belarus gives Russia little added advantage in terms of striking additional targets within Ukraine."

Moscow has leaned on Minsk since first invading Ukraine in February by using its borders to deploy thousands of troops, firing missiles from Belarusian airspace and regrouping its forces after they were forced to retreat from northern regions in Ukraine. 

However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ardent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has yet to deploy his troops in Ukraine. 

Western defense officials have been monitoring Lukashenko’s military plans for months, as he has stationed troops alongside Russian forces on the shared Ukraine-Belarus border. 

However, Kyiv has repeatedly said it does not believe Minsk will fully enter the war alongside Moscow by launching invading troops.

KEY UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE HIT BY RUSSIAN STRIKES: OFFICIALS

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have repeatedly asked Western allies for better air defense systems and warplanes as Russia increasingly relies on air-based attacks.

Ukraine’s Operational Command South said Tuesday that Russian forces had struck settlements along the front lines in Mykolaiv and Kherson, where intense fighting continues. 

"The enemy is conducting aerial reconnaissance, including with the use of combat drones that return to base," the command said according to Ukrainian news outlet Pravda. "When Lancet drones are used for reconnaissance missions, they also drop explosives on their target."

Ukraine has kept operational updates from the southern regions to a minimum in recent months and strategic progress remains ambiguous. 

According to the southern command on Tuesday, Ukrainian air defense forces shot down two Russian attack helicopters in Kherson and used a high precision strike on a "cluster" of Russian forces in Mykolaiv.

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South Korea Halloween stampede: Heartbreaking images show victims' belongings filling 'lost and found'

The belongings of the victims in the Halloween stampeded in South Korea that killed over 150 people over the weekend are piling up after a temporary morgue was set up, reports said Tuesday.

Personal items like shoes, jackets, Halloween masks and backpacks have been collected for people to come and retrieve.

Over 800 items have been recovered and placed at the Wonhyoro Sports Center in the Itaewon district of Seoul.

OHIO CONGRESSMAN'S NIECE KILLED DURING SOUTH KOREA HALLOWEEN STAMPEDE

According to a Reuters report, the center was quiet Tuesday, just three days after the tragic event that lead to hundreds of deaths and more than 350 filed missing persons reports.

A deadly stampede ensued after a crowed of people were pushed into a narrow alleyway during Halloween festivities Saturday and crushed those caught in the middle of the group. 

Seoul officials said Sunday that 26 of the deceased were from 14 different nations, including the U.S., France, Thailand and Japan. At least 97 women and 56 men have been confirmed dead. 

At least another 133 people were also reported to have been injured in the night’s events.

The sports center was initially used to house the bodies carried from the alleyway.

TWO US COLLEGE STUDENTS AMONG MORE THAN 150 KILLED IN HALLOWEEN STAMPEDE IN SOUTH KOREA

The center has since been filled with 256 pairs of shoes, 258 pieces of clothing, 124 bags, 156 electronic items and other personal belongings like Halloween costumes and animal keychains, according to Reuters. 

Mobile phones and identification cards have been stored separately by the police.

A week-long period of mourning has been instated for the 156 victims killed and authorities are still looking into how the tragic events unfolded. 

Mourners continue to lay flowers at the scene.

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Netanyahu plots return as Israelis vote for new government

JERUSALEM – Tuesday could be a big day for former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As Israelis returned to the polls for a fifth time in less than four years, the former Israeli leader is growing increasingly hopeful that a whirlwind election campaign and more than a year in opposition will be enough to propel him back into power.

However, his path to the premiership is complicated. First by the fact that he is currently embroiled in a high-profile criminal trial that includes charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and secondly by the other political parties he might need in order to build his future coalition, which includes a faction made up of controversial far right-wing politicians.

Netanyahu, the longest-serving leader in Israel’s history, was ousted in the last round of voting in March 2021. Since then, he has watched from the opposition bench as his rivals – first Naftali Bennett and now Yair Lapid – ran the country with a fragile government coalition that included, for the first time ever, a controversial party from the country’s minority Arab sector. 

In an interview on Friday with Fox News Digital, Netanyahu said that he felt confident he could win this election and return to power with a more solid and ideologically aligned government. 

WATCH: BIBI 'EYE TO EYE' WITH TRUMP, 'DIVERGED' WITH OBAMA ON PEACE AND POWER, TOUTS 'SHARING VALUES' WITH US

"I think there’s a very good chance we’ll win this time because people have tasted the difference," Netanyahu said, adding, "They put in a different government that made an alliance – and this will shock you with the Muslim Brotherhood. They’re actually part of the existing coalition that was unraveled and that is unfathomable because these people don't recognize the Jewish state and they support the terrorists who seek to murder Israelis." 

Netanyahu said he believed that many Israelis wanted to see him return, leading a government that is "committed to Israel as a Jewish state" and "to restoring a powerful economy and a powerful military and security for all Israelis." 

Netanyahu’s confidence about returning to power is reflected somewhat in polls published over the past few weeks that show he might have an easier time getting re-elected than Yair Lapid, who has served as interim prime minister since June, when Bennett announced his withdrawal from Israeli politics after calling the election five months ago. However, he also faces a myriad of challenges that could leave him permanently ousted.

While Israel’s fragmented parliamentary system means that no single political party can win an election outright, the polls suggest that a group of right-wing, religious parties that have committed to supporting Netanyahu’s leadership bid could collectively garner the requisite number of seats in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to form the next government. 

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR CONDEMNS UN COMMISSION FOR 'ONE-SIDED' REPORT ON PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

In order to form a ruling coalition, Netanyahu needs 61 Knesset seats out of a possible 120. Polls published Friday, the final day polling is allowed under the law, show Netanyahu and the parties committed to his return reaching only 60 – although with a margin of error and final days of intensive campaigning that number could certainly rise.

"Any small changes in the vote choice between the camps or within the camps can have a significant impact," said Dr. Liron Lavi, a lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. 

Additionally, Lavi pointed out that while Netanyahu might certainly choose to form a government with the parties that have backed him through the campaign – two ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and a nationalist religious party – if his own Likud Party succeeds in garnering a larger number of voters, he would be better positioned to negotiate an alternative coalition, possibly with the party headed by the current Defense Minister Benny Gantz. 

"It’s not surprising that over the past week or so the two main parties [Likud and Lapid’s Yesh Atid] have played the large party card – we know that in the Israeli political system it is not the largest party that forms the government but whoever can form a coalition," said Lavi. "In this election, however, the size of the party is crucial, especially for Likud, because a large Likud will give Netanyahu the flexibility to choose his coalition partners." 

Netanyahu has faced criticism both within Israel and outside for saying he is willing to include the national religious party – Religious Zionism – in a future coalition. The confab, which consists of three far-right parties, features characters such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, a disciple of the American Rabbi and Knesset Member Meir Kahana, who was assassinated by a terrorist in New York in 1990, and Bezalel Smotrich, a former Transport Minister, who is an outspoken advocate for Israeli settlement on lands Palestinians hope for a future state. 

ISRAEL ELECTION: WITH DIVISIONS DEEPENING, ISRAELIS TO DECIDE IF NETANYAHU SHOULD RETURN TO POWER

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have come under fire in the past for derogatory comments toward the country’s minority Arab population, and both have declared far-reaching plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system, which they claim is corrupt, biased, and far too powerful. The two have also hinted at their willingness to halt the criminal proceedings against Netanyahu, a step that has those opposed to his return up in arms. 

When asked by Fox News about Ben-Gvir’s party joining his coalition, Netanyahu called the concern "ridiculous." 

"I've had parties on my right, including a party of this same persuasion, and they didn't control the policy," Netanyahu told Fox. "For God sakes, we're the biggest party I'm the prime minister, and we control policy." 

"I always questioned the people who level this question against me," he continued."I said, Where were you when the current government has made a coalition with the Muslim Brotherhood that wants to see the disappearance of Israel and doesn't accept the United States as currently formed? How come you’re speaking of people who recognize the Jewish state, who support the IDF, or who have been cleared by our Supreme Court, which vets all the parties? It just doesn't make sense."

On Monday, with less than 24 hours to go until the polls open, Netanyahu made a dramatic announcement that he was growing concerned about voter turnout for those affiliated with Likud and called an emergency strategy meeting at his headquarters in Tel Aviv. His failure to win 61 seats for his bloc or increase the size of his Likud party could, this time, end his political career for good, some local pundits say. 

Jonathan Rynhold, who heads the Department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University, said that there was a good chance of Netanyahu challenging the legitimacy of the election results if he did not get 61 seats. 

"He will have seen that Trump did this and although I do not expect the equivalent of 6th Jan. in Israel, Netanyahu can cause a lot of chaos in the political system if he challenges the results," said Rynhold. "This will be more likely if the results are very close.

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