Israeli election: It’s third time lucky for Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in Israel’s general election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with wife Sara in Tel Aviv after claiming victory over Benny Gantz. Picture: Reuters.

Benjamin Netan­yahu has claimed victory in Israel’s general election, with exit polls putting the indicted Prime Minister in a strong position to form the next government.

Monday’s election, Israel’s third in less than a year, was called after inconclusive votes in April and September left the Jewish state in a political deadlock.

Ballots were still being counted, with official tallies expected late on Tuesday night. But exit polls by three networks gave Mr Netan­yahu’s right-wing Likud party ­36 or 37 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament elected under a proportional representation system.

That would mark the party’s best result under Mr Netanyahu, who first served as prime minister from 1996-99 and whose current tenure began in 2009. The estim­ates gave Likud and its right-wing allies, including ultra-Orthodox parties, 59 seats — two short of a majority in the Knesset.

Likud’s main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party, was projected to win 32 to 34 seats. Counting its centre-left allies as well as the Arab Joint List alliance, the anti-Netanyahu camp was expected to control 54 or 55 seats.

With voting voluntary the turnout was 71 per cent, the highest since 2015.

While there remains no guarantee that Mr Netanyahu can form a coalition, he hailed the election as a “giant” success. “This is the most important victory of my life,” he told supporters in Tel Aviv.

Likud said Mr Netanyahu had spoken to all the heads of right-wing parties and “agreed to form a strong national government for ­Israel as soon as possible”.

Blue and White’s leader, ex-military chief Benny Gantz, admitted to “disappointment”. But he stressed that regardless of the final tally Mr Netanyahu was still due to go on trial on March 17 after being charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. “In two weeks, he will be in court,” Mr Gantz said.

The president of the Israel Democracy Institute think tank, Yohanan Plesner, said projections showed that Mr Netanyahu had “won a significant political mandate from the Israeli people”.

But, Mr Plesner added, the country was heading towards “unprecedente­d” legal uncertain­ty as the probable head of government would be forced to “fight to clear his name in court”.

While Mr Netanyahu will ­likely be tapped by President Reuven­ Rivlin to form government, his path to a 61-seat majority remains unclear.

The projections indicate that the secular, nationalist Yisrael ­Beiteinu party won six or seven seats and may again be able to play kingmaker, the same position it was in following the April and Septemb­er votes.

Party leader Avigdor Lieberman served as defence minister in a previous Netanyahu government and his support would easily put Likud over the 61-seat line. But after the September vote Mr ­Lieberman said he would only join a government of national unity — ruling out co-operation with the ultra-Orthodox parties allied to Mr Netanyahu and the Arab camp that backed Mr Gantz.

“There is no choice but to wait for the final results and only then conduct a situation assessment,” Mr Lieberman said after the exit polls were released.

Despite again falling short of a majority, the mood in the Likud camp was celebratory. “Finally, we won,” said party member Ran Carmi Buzaglo at the Tel Aviv rally.

Mr Netanyahu campaigned on his tough position towards the Palestinia­ns and on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In January, US President ­Donald Trump unveiled a peace plan approving Israel’s annexation of settlements and land in the West Bank, sparking Palestinian outrage. Bolstered by US support, Mr Netanyahu has campaigned on building thousands more homes in Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory.

Reacting to the result, chief Palest­inian negotiator Saeb Erekat­ said the exit polls showed that “settlement, annexation and apartheid had won”. Mr Gantz, a security hawk, was also supportive of the Trump plan, sparking criticism from the left he did not offer a real alter­native to Mr Netanyahu.

The election was being held amid the coronavirus epidemic, with two new cases confirmed on Monday — raising the tally in ­Israel to 12.

AFP