Netanyahu on path for victory in Israeli election
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on path for victory in Israel’s elections on Wednesday after nearly complete results put him in position to form a right-wing coalition and further extend his long tenure in office.
The results from Tuesday’s vote came despite corruption allegations against the 69-yearold premier and put him on track to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister later this year.
His Likud party looked set to finish with a similar number of seats in parliament to his main rival, ex-military chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance, Israeli media reported.
But with 97 per cent of the vote counted, results showed the Likud and other right-wing parties allied to him with some 65 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the reports said.
The result would seem to leave President Reuven Rivlin, whose task it is to ask one of the candidates to form a government, with little choice but to pick Netanyahu.
Intensive coalition negotiations are likely to follow and could drag on for days or even weeks.
Final results were expected by Thursday afternoon, with ballots for soldiers and other special categories of voters yet to be counted.
The close race between the two main parties had led to uncertainty after polls closed on Tuesday night and exit surveys were released.
Both Netanyahu and Gantz claimed victory after the initial exit surveys that gave Blue and White the most seats.
But even then Netanyahu appeared best placed to form a coalition, with both parties in any case falling far short of an outright majority.
Netanyahu spoke in the early hours of Wednesday at the Likud’s post-election party in Tel Aviv and called it a “magnificent victory.”
Earlier while addressing cheering supporters who waived Israeli flags at an event hall in Tel Aviv, Gantz called it a “historic day.”
“The president must give us the task of forming the next government since we are the biggest party,” he said after initial exit polls.
The vote had long been expected to be close and lead to frantic negotiations to form a coalition, even with Netanyahu facing potential corruption charges.
Fighting for his political life, Netanyahu spent the weeks ahead of the vote campaigning furiously to energise his right-wing base.
Gantz, a newcomer to politics, mounted a strong challenge to the veteran prime minister by brandishing his security credentials while pledging to undo damage he says Netanyahu has inflicted on the country with divisive politics. — AFP