Benjamin Netanyahu poised for record stint as Israeli prime minister

BENJAMIN Netanyahu will become Israel’s longest-serving PM if he completes a fourth term after a stunning poll comeback.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to supporters in the city of Tel Aviv.

DEFYING the opinion polls and most expectations, Benjamin ­Netanyahu will become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister if he sees through a fourth term that is his for the taking after a stunning election comeback.

With 99 per cent of the vote counted yesterday, Mr Netanyahu claimed a “great victory” and hit the phones to build the coalition he wanted before he pulled the pin on his last government, a move that had appeared to backfire in the run-up to the general election.

Israeli voters unexpectedly kept faith with the devil they knew and Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party is on track to secure 30 seats in the next Knesset, heading the opposition Zionist Union alliance on 24.

The man they call Bibi was jubilant. “I am proud that the Israeli people ... in the moment of truth knew how to separate between what’s important or what’s not and to stand up for what’s important,” he told revellers at the Likud election party in Tel Aviv.

CHART: The new Knesset

But centrists and supporters of the so-called Arab parties, which ran on a single ticket for the first time to become the third parliamentary group with a likely 14 seats, were dismayed Mr Netanyahu’s repudiation of a two-state peace deal with Palestinians had been rewarded by voters.

After voting at the Abdulla Ibn Alhussen girls’ school in East Jerusalem for United List, Israeli Palestinian Raga Htib, 37, said he had hoped for a “new direction’’ under the moderate Mr Herzog.

“If it’s not to be we will be back here to vote again against Netanyahu,’’ he said.

While Mr Herzog’s Zionist Union remains in the hunt, most observers accept that Mr Netanyahu is in the box seat to be asked by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to form a government and take his shot at history by eclipsing the tenure of the country’s founder, David Ben-Gurion.

Mr Herzog, 54, would not concede defeat when he addressed downcast supporters. “Everything is open,’’ he insisted, with an eye to the impending horse trading to reach the required 61 seats for a majority in the Knesset.

Mr Netanyahu, 65, immediately turned to Likud’s traditional nationalist and ultra-orthodox ­allies to join the alliance he hopes to construct.

The kingmaker may turn out to be former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, who broke away to form his own party, Kulanu (All of Us), focusing on cost-of-living issues. His forecast 10 seats could do the trick for either side. While he leans to the right, Mr Kahlon is no fan of Mr Netanyahu and was giving nothing away last night.

Mr Rivlin will poll minority party leaders before announcing who will get the nod between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Herzog. Given the strength of the Likud vote, he is unlikely to go past the Prime Minister. However, soon after the polls closed, the President said his preference was for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Herzog to team up in a national unity government, even though both profess to be too far apart in their views to work together.

“I am convinced that only a unity government can prevent the rapid disintegration of Israel’s democracy and new elections in the near future,’’ Mr Rivlin told the Haaretz newspaper.

Despite their differences, Mr Netanyahu might be attracted to working with Mr Herzog to stabilise the new government and improve his prospects of serving the four-year term. An experienced former minister, Mr Herzog could slot into a senior role.

Mr Herzog’s best hope is to bring in United List, the bloc representing mostly Palestinian “Israeli Arabs” under lawyer Ayman Odeh. This would be a major departure, as Arab parties have shied away from joining a governing ­coalition. Pre-election, Mr Odeh said his priority was to defeat Mr Netanyahu, but he also indicated he was willing to help Mr Herzog in other ways — possibly with an endorsement to the President.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat accepted that Mr Netanyahu looked set to be returned, but vowed the Palestinian Authority would maintain its push for an International Criminal Court probe into alleged Israeli war crimes in last year’s Gaza conflict.

Going into the election, which pulled a heavy turnout of Israel’s 5.8 million voters, Likud was trailing the Zionist Union by four seats. Mr Netanyahu’s insistence that no independent Palestinian state would be set up on his watch seems to have brought back nationalist voters and turned the tide.