In the days ahead of Israel's April 9 elections, activists in the country's north were not trying to convince some residents who to vote for -- but just to vote.

In a charged election campaign that has been heavy on insults and short on substance, Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has been notably absent from the discourse.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party has offered no plan for what many believe is the country's most existential problem. His main challenger speaks vaguely of "separation," while Netanyahu's hard-line partners speak openly of the once unthinkable idea of annexing all or parts of the West Bank. Talk of a Palestinian state, the international community's preferred solution for the past two decades, is non-existent.

Israel reopened its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday after having kept them closed for nearly a week following a rare long-distance rocket strike from the Palestinian enclave, an official said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Israel on Sunday just ahead of the country's polls in which his ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough re-election fight.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he was prepared for further military action in Gaza after cutting short a Washington visit and returning to Israel following a shaky ceasefire announced by Hamas.

Locked in a tough re-election campaign, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week will host a visit from the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before flying to Washington for a possible meeting with President Donald Trump.

But Pompeo's Jerusalem visit -- sandwiched by additional stops in Kuwait and Beirut -- reflects a larger agenda than simply lending US support to an important regional friend at a key time. 

Weekly protests along the Gaza-Israel border were called off Friday after a military escalation between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants in the territory, organisers announced.

Turkey on Tuesday denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "blatant racism" after he called Israel the nation-state of "the Jewish people" only, not all its citizens.

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has run into political trouble in the past, he has lashed out at the media, the political opposition and Israel's Arab minority with incendiary and divisive language to galvanize his nationalist base.

Ahead of April 9 elections, Netanyahu has zoned in on prominent Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi.

Here are some of the main issues in the campaign for Israel's April 9 general elections: