Netanyahu wins, muted response from tense West

TEL AVIV: Benjamin Netanyahu swept to a stunning election victory on Wednesday, securing a third straight term for an Israeli leader who has deepened tensions with the Palestinians and infuriated key ally Washington.

Western governments gave a muted reaction to his win amid fears that his increasingly hardline stance has fatally undermined any Palestine or Middle East peace process.

The EU congratulated Netanyahu on his victory, but said it was committed to relaunching the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians that he rejected in the last days of the campaign.

British Prime Minister David Cameron took a similar stand, tweeting his congratulations but letting his spokesman emphasise that “he wants to see peace, wants to see a two-state solution”.

Netanyahu surged ahead after a last-minute lurch to the right in which he opposed Palestinian statehood and vowed continued settlement construction, setting the stage for fresh confrontations with the White House just weeks after criticising US talks with Iran BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel PM

in a divisive address to Congress.

With nearly all votes counted, Likud appeared to have earned 30 out of parliament’s 120 seats and was in a position to build with relative ease a coalition government with its nationalist, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.

“I’m touched by the weight of the responsibility that the people of Israel have put on my shoulders. I wish to say that I will do anything in my power to ensure the well-being and security of all the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Given the final results, it is all but assured that Israel’s largely ceremonial president Reuven Rivlin will task Netanyahu with forming a new government. Netanyahu says he hopes to do so quickly, within three weeks.