JERUSALEM — To many outsiders, Israeli democracy must appear as dysfunctional and chaotic as some of the political systems in points West.

Despite two elections in the past six months, Israel is no closer to knowing who its next leader will be. Benny Gantz, a retired army chief, will now take his turn at trying to form a government, but experts say he has even less of a chance to do so than his main rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, the longtime prime minister, who abandoned his latest attempt on Monday.

A third round of elections could be ahead.

Yet while Israel’s unruly multiparty parliamentary democracy may have ample room for improvement — and a new poll on Tuesday showed that most Israelis would like to replace it with a two-party system — few analysts are calling the current state of prolonged paralysis a crisis. Some likened it to a muscle cramp that will eventually subside. Others to a computer virus, but not a fatal one.

Many said Mr. Netanyahu, so entrenched and determined to survive, was simply gumming up the works by refusing to remove himself gracefully. He is facing indictment on corruption charges — a watershed moment widely expected in the coming weeks.