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Netanyahu nears victory

Published:Thursday | November 3, 2022 | 12:10 AM
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Prime Minister and the head of Likud party, accompanied by his wife Sara waves to his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party’s headquarters in Jerusalem yesterday.
AP
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Prime Minister and the head of Likud party, accompanied by his wife Sara waves to his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party’s headquarters in Jerusalem yesterday.

JERUSALEM (AP):

After four inconclusive elections, it looks like the fifth time finally worked for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s longtime former prime minister and current opposition leader appears to have engineered a surprising victory in the country’s fifth national vote since 2019, thanks to help from an extremist far-right party. This alliance could have profound implications, though – potentially ending his legal troubles at home while antagonising friends abroad.

With nearly 90 per cent of the ballots counted Wednesday, all signs pointed to a victory by Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies. The count, including 450,000 absentee ballots, was expected to be completed Thursday.

Tuesday’s election, like the previous four, was seen largely as a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule while facing corruption charges. And once again, opinion polls had been forecasting a continuation of the deadlock that has paralysed the political system for the past three and a half years.

But Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister who has gained a reputation as a political mastermind during a total of 15 years in office, appears to have outsmarted his opponents with a disciplined campaign.

Israeli media portrayed Netanyahu as the winner on Wednesday, though he had yet to declare victory and his main rival, acting Prime Minister Yair Lapid, did not concede as vote counting continued.

Israelis vote for parties, not individual candidates, and coalition-building is needed to secure a governing majority in parliament.

According to official results from Israel’s Central Election Committee, the popular vote was almost evenly divided between parties loyal to Netanyahu and those who backed Lapid.

But Netanyahu, who has been opposition leader for a year and a half, worked diligently to shore up his bloc of allies with a series of cooperation deals and mergers to ensure that no votes were lost. His ultra-Orthodox religious allies, who joined him in the opposition, worked hard to ensure heavy turnout.