The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Netanyahu may be short of majority
Exit polls indicate lack of ability to form working government.
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an edge over his main rival in Israel’s third election in under a year, exit polls indicated Monday night, but it was unclear whether he could clinch the parliamentary majority needed to claim victory.
Exit polls on Israel’s main TV channels showed Netanyahu and his nationalist and religious allies winning 59 seats, two short of a parliamentary majority. The center-left bloc, led by former military chief Benny Gantz, was projected to win 54 to 55 seats. Earlier projections had forecast 60 seats for Netanyahu and his allies, putting him on the cusp of victory.
If the official results from Monday’s election match the exit polls, Netanyahu could find himself stuck in continued political deadlock ahead of his trial on corruption charges, set to begin March 17.
Netanyahu, the longest-serving leader in Israeli history, has been a caretaker prime minister for more than a year as a divided country has weathered two inconclusive votes and prolonged political paralysis.
With pre-election opinion polls forecasting another deadlock, Netanyahu had sought a late surge in support to score a parliamentary majority along with other nationalist parties for a fourth consecutive term in office and fifth overall.
He appeared to get it in the form of a surprisingly high turnout despite the weariness accompanying the second repeat election.
Netanyahu tweeted a heart emoji with the word” thanks” as well as photo of himself surrounded by his family, aides and supporters proclaiming “a giant victory for Israel.”
Miri Regev, a senior Likud member, proclaimed an “overwhelming victory” for Netanyahu’s party.
“The nation had its say, a referendum that proved the trust of the people in Netanyahu and in the Likud, with all the indictments and all the attempts to depose Netanyahu,” Regev said.
But as the exit polls scaled back Likud’s apparent performance, Netanyahu delayed what had been expected to be a joyous victory speech. At 1:30 a.m, Netanyahu still had not emerged at his party’s headquarters.
Netanyahu’s Likud party was projected to win 36-37 seats, a gain from September, when it won 32. Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party, which ran on a message that the prime minister is unfit to lead because of the serious charges against him, was projected to win 32-34 seats, roughly the same number as in September.
Addressing a raucous crowd of supporters early Tuesday, Gantz did not concede defeat.
“This wasn’t the outcome that perhaps we would have wanted,” he said. Nonetheless, he said the party would not compromise its principles and would wait for final results.
“We have just begun. We have a long road ahead,” he said.
Despite Netanyahu’s impressive showing, neither party appeared able to form a coalition with its traditional allies. With the prospect of a unity government between them seemingly off the table after a particularly nasty campaign, the vote may well turn into merely a preamble to another election if Netanyahu’s Likud can’t garner a majority.
“This is clearly an achievement from Netanyahu’s standpoint but by no means is it a clear, decisive outcome that enables him to form a stable, functioning government,” said Yohanan Plesner, president of the nonpartisan Israel Democracy Institute. “The country is heading toward constitutional uncertainty.”
There was little fanfare ahead of the vote, with a noticeable absence of campaign posters on the streets and public rallies that typically characterize the run-up to Israeli elections.
The elections commission said 71% of eligible voters cast ballots.