Controversial Israeli ex-Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is poised to make a political comeback. According to post-election polls, the camp surrounding its Likud party won Israel’s parliamentary elections on Tuesday. As reported by the Kan TV channel, the Netanyahu bloc will have 62 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. The camp around the incumbent Prime Minister Yair Lapid has only 54 mandates.
Exit polls from other television stations also showed a narrow majority for the camp of the corruption-ridden former prime minister. The deciding factor here was the strong performance of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s religious Zionist party, which became the third strongest after Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Lapid’s Future Party with 14 to 15 seats. According to voter polls, the Likud party won 30 to 31 seats, the future party 22 to 24 seats.
Voter turnout at record high
According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout of the 6.8 million eligible voters at 7 p.m. (CET) was 66.3 percent – the highest level since 1999. The Election Commission did not expect preliminary final results for Thursday. Previous elections have shown that the picture can still shift before all the votes have been counted.
When the final official result is announced, President Yitzhak (Isaac) Herzog will decide who will be tasked with forming the government. The candidate then has four weeks to form a coalition. However, as with last year’s elections, it can take weeks or months to form a government. Netanyahu was first tasked with forming a government but failed to forge a coalition.
Israel in permanent political crisis
The country on the Mediterranean Sea with nine million inhabitants has been in a permanent crisis for years. Recent elections often led to unclear majorities. The current eight-party coalition led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett collapsed in June after losing its majority after just 12 months. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lapid then took over the position of head of government. The extremely unusual alliance was backed by right-to-left parties – for the first time, an Arab party was also in government.
The opposition leader Netanyahu, accused of corruption, wants to return to the office of prime minister. The 73-year-old has served as head of government in Israel several times, totaling more than a decade and a half. Netanyahu aims to form a far-right religious coalition that could help him pass criminal evasion legislation. The party landscape in Israel is highly fragmented and driven by interests. Even parties from similar camps are often unable to form alliances. In addition to substantive differences, this also has to do with personal disputes.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
