Time.news – King Bibì is back: just over a year after the arrival of the power of that ‘government of change’ by Bennett-Lapid that had put an end to his uncontested reign of 12 years, Benjamin Netanyahu is once again aiming to lead Israel. According to the exit polls, the block headed by the Likud leader it would have won the majority by a whisker61-62 seats, against 54-55 of the outgoing government of Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Although it was the fifth election in three and a half years, the turnout was a record: at 8 pm it was 66.3%the highest figure since 1999. The participation of the Arab electorate, expected to be very low, also surged in the last hours before polling stations closed.
It will take some time to get the final results – “the outcome will change by tomorrow morning”, commented the Yesh Atid party of the premier – and the scenario can still change, in particular if the two parties that according to the projections have not managed to overcome the threshold will come back into play of 3.25%: Jewish home of Ayelet Shaked and the Arab-Israeli party Balad.
The latter, in particular, would be very close to the goal and attacks on alleged “fraud” have already started from Likud to “violently falsify the electoral result”.
Allegations rejected by the Central Election Commission that “the count has just begun “, therefore “there is absolutely no basis for these unfounded rumors”. If Balad were to pass, the opposition leader’s blockade would drop to 60, one seat below the majority.
Religious Zionism rejoices: as expected, the far-right alliance between the party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit has made another big leap forward and is given 14-15 seats, more than double compared to the previous elections in 2021 when it got 6 seats. “We made history“, exulted Smotrich, underlining the” victory “of the party.
The popularity of Ben Gvir, a provocative arsonist and well-known advocate for Jewish extremists accused of hate crimes, had aroused more than a few concerns before the elections, not only at home, but also in the Gulf and in the United States. He has never made any secret of his aims and already in the election campaign he had claimed for himself the post of Minister for Public Security.
For now, the radical left of Meretz is breathing a sigh of relief, until the last date hanging in the balance by all the polls, which would instead be able to pass the barrier and win the 4 seats of survival. Green light also for the Labor Party of Merav Michaeli, for the Islamist Ràam party of Mansour Abbas as well as for the Arab-Israeli union Hadash-Tàal.
While waiting for a certain picture, Lapid’s party has already made it clear that it does not intend to be part of a government led by the Likud leader, on trial for corruption, fraud and abuse of office: “It is not at all sure that Netanyahu will form the next government. However, we will not sit with him. “
The latter for now he has limited himself to talking about “a good start“but wait to cheer. Meanwhile, the phone call has begun with the allies of the national-religious bloc (in addition to Likud and Religious Zionism, there are the two ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Toraj Judaism) in view of future negotiations for form a government.