Exit polls show Netanyahu short of majority
JERUSALEM — In an apparent setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the longtime Israeli leader on Tuesday fell short of securing a parliamentary majority with his hardline allies in national elections, initial exit polls showed, putting his political future in question.
Results posted by Israel’s three major TV stations indicated that challenger Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party held a slight lead over Netanyahu’s Likud party. However, neither party was forecast to control a majority in the 120seat parliament without the support of Avigdor Lieberman, a Netanyahu rival who heads the midsize Yisrael Beitenu party.
Lieberman said there was only “one option” for the country: a secular unity government between him and the two largest parties.
Israeli exit polls are often imprecise and the final results, expected Wednesday, could shift in Netanyahu’s favor. But three stations all forecast similar scenarios.
The apparent deadlock sets the stage for an extended period of uncertainly and complicated political maneuvering, but with Netanyahu in a relatively weaker bargaining position. The parties could be forced into a broad unity government that could push Netanyahu out.
Gantz, a former military chief of staff, has ruled out sitting with a Netanyahuled Likud at a time when Netanyahu is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. Further complicating things, Lieberman refuses to sit in any coalition that includes religious parties that traditionally support Netanyahu.
Attention will now focus on Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, who is to choose the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a stable coalition. Rivlin is to consult with all parties in the coming days before making his decision.
Officials from both Blue and White and Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu both said they would seek a broad unity government.
Netanyahu, the longest serving leader in Israeli history, had sought to secure an outright majority with his allies to secure immunity from the expected indictment. That now seems unlikely.
Throughout an abbreviated but alarmist campaign characterized by mudslinging and slogans condemned as racist, Netanyahu had tried to portray himself as a seasoned statesman uniquely qualified to lead the country through challenging times. Gantz tried to paint Netanyahu as divisive and scandalplagued, offering himself as a calming influence and honest alternative.
The election marks their second showdown of the year after they drew even in April.
At the time, Netanyahu appeared to have won another term, with his traditional allies of nationalist and ultrareligious Jewish parties controlling a parliamentary majority.
But Lieberman, his mercurial allyturnedrival, refused to join the new coalition, citing excessive influence it granted the ultraOrthodox Jewish parties. Without a parliamentary majority, Netanyahu dissolved parliament and called a new election.
The initial exit polls positioned Lieberman once again in the role of kingmaker. Lieberman has promised to avoid a third election.
Another factor working against Netanyahu was that the fringe, ultranationalist Jewish Power faction, led by followers of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and creating a Jewish theocracy, failed to cross the electoral threshold. That dropped the support of Netanyahu’s overall rightwing bloc.
Heavier turnout by Arab voters, many of whom stayed home in April, appeared to have hurt Netanyahu. The exit polls predicted the Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties, would win around a dozen seats in the 120seat parliament. Ayman Odeh, leader of the bloc, said that would be a “historic” moment for the minority, which has long complained of discrimination.