The forecasts grant the bloc led by the former prime minister an absolute majority that would allow him to form a government
Israel returned to the polls for the fifth time in less than four years in an election that has become another plebiscite over the figure of Benyamin Netanyahu. Despite being the fifth election since 2018, citizens with the highest turnout in the past two decades responded. The first exit polls from the country’s main channels gave Likud the victory, with 30 seats, and indicated that the pro-Netanyahu bloc won a majority in the Chamber with at least 61 seats, which would allow it to form a government. It’s a very narrow margin, from just one deputy, for which former Likud ministers called for caution until they knew the count’s progress.
Citizens have returned to their roles and the former prime minister’s supporters have shown that they will not be influenced by his corruption trial when it comes to casting votes. Now it is the turn of the political leaders, who must negotiate to try to form a solid coalition that will allow Israel to regain some stability.
The pro-Netanyahu bloc confirms the strong entry of Religious Zionism, a radical formation led by the settlers and heirs of Kahanism Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. Early polls place him as the third force in the country with 15 delegates, an unprecedented result for Jewish supremacism. Together with them will be formed the ultra-Orthodox parties, with 17 deputies, and the most radical government in the history of the Jewish state.
In the March 2021 elections, the mass vaccination campaign was the monotheme. Netanyahu tried to capitalize on the success of the vaccine and did not hesitate to appropriate the Health Ministry slogan for his campaign: “We come back to life!” This time, the Likud campaign consisted of an attack on the coalition led by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennet, which kept them from power for a year. Bennet has paid for his fleeting stint at the head of government with his withdrawal from politics and his party, the Jewish Home, would not even exceed the 3.25 minimum percentage required to sit in the new parliament.
For his part, Lapid is being consolidated as the most serious alternative to Netanyahu after his four months as interim prime minister, and Yesh Atid would win 22 seats. In recent weeks, his political image in the country has improved after the signing of the agreement with Lebanon to exploit gas in the Mediterranean, a historic step given that the two neighboring countries are at war. However, Netanyahu has already announced that he plans to undo the pact when he finally comes to power.
At the gates of polling stations in central Jerusalem, supporters of Likud and religious Zionism tried to get votes to the last second. Netanyahu was one of the first leaders to go to a polling station and said, “I hope we end this day with a big smile. Those who vote for us will get Netanyahu as prime minister and a real right-wing government.” In the streets, Likud supporters blared songs praising their leader with slogans such as “you are strong, you can do anything, you are a genius”, which were heard non-stop until schools closed.
“It doesn’t matter who wins, you have to prepare for the sixth election and then the seventh, until Bibi leaves politics and leaves Likud. This is a trap, a vicious circle and even if one of the blocs wins, it makes governments on such a small margin are very weak,” says Meir Margalit, author of books such as ‘Jerusalem, the Impossible City.’ For Margalit, “the most serious thing is that young people wonder what democracy is for when every year or years a government falls, better still a dictatorship.What is at stake here is democracy.
Likud again moved its headquarters to Jerusalem to monitor the results, something it already did last year, although it didn’t bring much luck. As soon as the first polls were announced, the party mood erupted, but the most cautious voices reminded that in 2021 the initial picture of the polls was similar and eventually the pro-Netanyahu bloc lost the majority. On this occasion, the possible entry of the Arab party Balad into the Chamber would deprive Netanyahu of the opportunity to form a government.
Source: La Verdad
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