Israel’s right-wing conservative opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (73) has a good chance of returning as head of government after the parliamentary elections in Israel. The right-wing religious camp around the 73-year-old won a narrow majority from 61 to 62 of the 120 seats, according to TV forecasts based on polls after Wednesday night’s election. His right-wing conservative Likud party was the strongest with 31 to 32 seats. Directly behind it comes Prime Minister Jair Lapid’s (58) Future Party with 23 seats. However, previous elections have shown that the picture can still shift before all the votes have been counted. The final result is not expected until Thursday.
For the first time in Israel’s history, a far-right alliance took third place. According to the predictions, the Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich (42) and Itamar Ben-Gvir (46) will have 13 to 14 seats and is considered a possible kingmaker. Netanyahu had mediated in the alliance and thus helped the right-wing extremists to revolt. A right-wing religious government could help him escape his ongoing corruption process by changing the law.
The 46-year-old Ben-Gvir has been convicted in the past for racist hate speech and advocates, among other things, the deportation of Arabs “who are against the State of Israel”. He has also been repeatedly accused of deliberately fueling conflict with the Palestinians. Smotrich said after the election that his party “made history”. He hopes for “the establishment of a right-wing, Jewish, Zionist and national government”. His supporters are already hailing him as “the new defense minister”.
Final result still open
Netanyahu said after the predictions that the success was a “good start”. However, the final result of the election will not be known until all votes have been counted. According to forecasts, the Arab party Balad was just below the 3.25 percent threshold. If she does manage to get into parliament, it could endanger Netanyahu’s majority.
According to the predictions, the anti-Bibi camp around Lapid won 53 to 54 seats. It includes parties from right to left and is united primarily by the will to prevent Netanyahu from returning. However, it seems unlikely that Lapid will forge a majority coalition like last year. Meanwhile, Lapid emphasized Wednesday night that “nothing was over” before all the votes were counted. His party will continue to fight for Israel to become a Jewish, democratic, liberal and progressive state.
No sign of electoral fatigue
Until the evening, the elections showed an exceptionally high turnout. According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout of the 6.8 million eligible voters at 9 p.m. (CET) was 71.3 percent. That is almost four percentage points more than at the same time in the last elections in March last year. The final number is not expected until Wednesday.
After all the votes are counted, President Izchak Herzog (62) decides who will be tasked with forming a government. The candidate then has four weeks to form a coalition. As with last year’s elections, it could take weeks or months before there is a government. As long as Lapid remains in office. If the formation of a government fails, new elections could be held next year. (SDA)