Former Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to return as the country’s leader after his Likud party-led alliance won 65 out of 120 Knesset seats, with almost 90% of the votes counted. Netanyahu, 73, already Israel’s longest-serving PM, is expected to form a coalition comprised of right-wing and ultra-orthodox parties, something which has been criticised domestically and abroad.
Netanyahu’s Likud party emerged victorious by securing 32 seats. While incumbent PM Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party came second with 24 seats, Netanyahu’s allies—Religious Zionism, Shas, and United Torah Jerusalem—won 14, 11, and eight seats, respectively.
The left-wing Meretz party, which won six seats in the 2021 elections and was part of the Bennett-Lapid coalition, failed to win a single seat, securing just 3.16% of the votes. The Jewish Home party, led by former Netanyahu ally Ayelet Shaked, fared even worse than Meretz, securing just 1.16% of the votes.
Of the three Arab parties, the United Arab List (Ra’am), also a part of last year’s coalition, and Hadash Ta’al, won five seats each; Balad has not yet opened its account.
Meanwhile, the Labour party and former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu secured four and five seats, respectively. The two ideologically different parties were also part of the 2021 coalition.
After counting 89.4% of the votes, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said voter turnout stood at around 64%, the highest since 1999. The CEC said the final results and turnout would be announced next week.
Netanyahu said that Likud is bound for a “big victory.” “We look forward to continuing to work with the Israeli government on our shared interests and values,” he told cheering Likud supporters.
Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, vowed to “reassert ownership” of Israel. Ben Gvir, who is known for making anti-Arab statements, said the results are significant as Jewish parties could win elections without Arab support. “I remember the celebrations in the previous elections that ended with a government with Ra’am,” he noted.
Congratulations to the people of Israel on a robust high turnout election and clear choice of @Netanyahu to form a government.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 2, 2022
בהצלחה חבר
“I want to say to those who did not vote for me: We’re all brothers,” Ben Gvir said. “We represent everyone: Secular and religious, Haredi and traditional, Sephardi and Ashkenazi,” he proclaimed. He also declared that he would “act against petrol bomb and stone throwers,” referring to Palestinians in the West Bank, and take a stricter approach against those working to “undermine our existence.”
Ben Gvir has reportedly demanded Netanyahu appoint him public security minister, which would put him in charge of the police. Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich has expressed interest in the justice, finance, and defence ministries. However, Netanyahu will likely give the defence ministry to someone who served in the Israeli military. Smotrich and Ben Gvir have no military experience.
Current PM Lapid is yet to address his supporters. However, several coalition partners blamed their performance on Lapid, accusing him of taking measures that benefited his own party but neglected the coalition. “Lapid acted recklessly, did not manage the bloc, did not take care of the Arabs, did not take care of the surplus agreements,” an official told Channel 12 News. “He behaved like a cannibalistic pig who tried to eliminate [other parties] in order to be the biggest party, and this is the result,” the official said.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington is “pleased to see such strong voter turnout for the Knesset election.” He also stated that the US would continue to work with Israel “on our interests and values.”
Congratulations to my good friend Bibi Netanyahu for his strong performance in the election.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 2, 2022
Bibi and I worked closely together to advance the US-Israel relationship—Israel is fortunate that he's still to serving.
However, a report by Axios stated that the Biden administration is worried about the religious right’s victory and is “unlikely to engage with Jewish supremacist politician Itamar Ben Gvir” if he is appointed minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet. “The Biden administration is mainly concerned about Ben Gvir and his party’s racist rhetoric and positions against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the Arab minority in Israel,” US officials told the news site.
Ben Gvir has been charged with working with a Jewish extremist organisation and making racist statements. He also provoked tensions last year by urging supporters to march through East Jerusalem. Furthermore, he sparked tensions in Sheikh Jarrah in May last year by establishing an office in the area, angering Palestinians. The Sheikh Jarrah clashes eventually led to an 11-day conflict in Gaza that killed over 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis.
Netanyahu, currently on trial for corruption, was PM for 12 years. He was first elected to the post in 1996 and served till 1999. He served his second, third, and fourth terms from 2009-2021. This week’s election was the fifth time Israel headed to the polls in just four years as no coalition managed to secure a majority. The only exception was in 2021, when an ideologically diverse coalition of parties from left, right, and centre formed the government. A year later, however, the coalition collapsed due to internal differences and elections for the 25th Knesset were announced.