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Shift to the right in Israel: Netanyahu is about to make a comeback
Likud Party leader and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets his supporters in Jerusalem. photo
© Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
He was in opposition for more than a year. Now Israel’s long-term head of government can return to office – with the help of right-wing extremists.
Israel’s right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has a good chance of returning as prime minister after the parliamentary elections in Israel. The right-wing religious camp around the 73-year-old achieved a narrow majority of 61 to 62 of the 120 seats, according to TV forecasts based on post-election polls during the night.
His right-wing conservative Likud party was the strongest with 31 to 32 seats. Directly behind is Prime Minister Jair Lapid’s Future Party with 23 seats. However, previous elections have shown that the picture can still shift before all votes have been counted. The final result is not expected before Thursday.
Rise of the far-right camp
For the first time in Israel’s history, an extreme right-wing alliance made third place. According to the forecasts, the Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir will have 13 to 14 seats and is considered a possible kingmaker. Netanyahu had brokered the alliance in a targeted manner and thus helped the right-wing extremists to rise. A right-wing religious government could help him to escape his ongoing corruption trial by changing the law.
The 46-year-old Ben-Gvir has been convicted of racist hate speech and advocates, among other things, the deportation of Arabs “who are against the State of Israel”. He has also repeatedly been accused of deliberately fueling the conflict with the Palestinians. Smotrich said after the election that his party had “made history”. He hopes for “the establishment of a right-wing, Jewish, Zionist and national government”. His supporters are already hailing him as “the new secretary of defense.”
Final outcome still open
After the forecasts, Netanyahu said the success was a “good start”. However, the final result of the election will only be known after all votes have been counted. According to the forecasts, the Arab party Balad was just below the 3.25 percent hurdle. Should she still manage to get into parliament, this could endanger Netanyahu’s majority.
According to forecasts, the anti-Bibi camp around Lapid won 53 to 54 seats. It includes parties from the right to the left and is primarily united by the will to prevent Netanyahu from returning. However, Lapid seems unlikely to forge a majority coalition like they did last year. Meanwhile, Lapid emphasized during the night that “nothing is over” until all the votes have been counted. His party will continue to fight for Israel to be a Jewish, democratic, liberal and progressive state.
No sign of electoral fatigue
An extraordinarily high turnout was evident in the election until the evening. According to the Central Election Committee, the turnout of the 6.8 million eligible voters by 9:00 p.m. (CET) was 71.3 percent. That is almost four percentage points more than at the same time in the last election in March last year. The final number is not expected until today.
After all the votes have been counted, President Izchak Herzog will determine who will be given the task of forming a government. The candidate then has four weeks to form a coalition. Like last year’s election, it could be weeks or months before a government is in place. As long as Lapid stays in office. If the formation of a government fails, another new election could be held next year.