Netanyahu’s win gives him chance to block charges of corruption
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU began negotiations yesterday to form a new Rightwing coalition after seeing off a centrist challenger in a close election to secure a fifth term as Israel’s prime minister.
Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party won the same number of seats as Blue and White, a centrist coalition led by former general Benny Gantz, but strong results for other Right-wing parties gave the prime minister a clear path to a majority government.
“I have already began talks with the leaders of the Right-wing parties, our natural partners,” Mr Netanyahu told his cheering supporters in Tel Aviv.
“I intend to finish the work quickly, with the aim of forming a stable national government.”
The result was hailed by Donald Trump, the US president, who said the result meant “a better chance” for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. But it was met with dismay by Palestinians.
The election will cement Mr Netanyahu’s reputation as the most successful election-winner in Israeli history, and prove that his brand of divisive Right-wing politics is the country’s dominant political force. The 69-year-old has been in power for 13 years and is now on course to overtake David Ben-gurion, Israel’s founding father, as the country’s longest-serving prime minister. Despite his election success, Mr Netanyahu is still facing criminal corruption charges that have the potential to drive him from office by the end of the year. But rivals suspect he will use his majority to try to pass an immunity law that shields him from prosecution. Mr Netanyahu, known in Israel as “Bibi”, denies all wrongdoing and claims the prosecutions are a political witch-hunt against him and his family. That explanation appeared to satisfy voters, who cast their ballots for parties committed to keeping him in power.
“I know some of the things Bibi did are wrong, but I’m not looking for a rabbi,” said Yaakov Lemash, 76, after voting for Likud. “I’m looking for a leader.” Likud and Mr Gantz’s Blue and White each appear to have won 35 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament. But while Likud and other Right-wing parties have a clear route to a majority, Mr Gantz does not have enough centre-left allies.
The former general, who rose from a commando to the head of Israel’s military, conceded the election last night. But his party said it was already gearing up to fight another election next year if the criminal case against Mr Netanyahu were to drive him from office.
Mr Trump praised Mr Netanyahu, saying: “I think we have a better chance [of peace] now that Bibi has won.”
The president handed Mr Netanyahu a major electoral boost by recognising Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights two weeks before polling day.
The White House has said it will release its Israeli-palestinian peace plan, which it described as “the deal of the century”, after the Israeli elections.
But skeptics question whether the long-awaited plan will ever be released, as it has been pre-emptively rejected by the Palestinians and may cause political difficulties for Mr Netanyahu and America’s Arab allies.
Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian official, said Israelis “overwhelmingly voted for candidates that are committed to entrenching the status quo of oppression, occupation, annexation and dispossession in Palestine”.
The next step is for Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president, to summon party leaders for consultations before formally announcing next week who will be tasked with forming a government.