Yair Lapid, Israel’s Prime Minister, congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election victory on Thursday, as final results confirmed the former premier’s successful return at the helm of a staunchly right-wing alliance.
After 5 elections in less than 4 years, Netanyahu’s triumph will end a historic impasse in Israel.
This time, Netanyahu, the dominating Israeli politician of his generation, gained a parliamentary majority with the support of ultranationalist and religious groups.
The centrist Lapid and his uncommon coalition of conservatives, liberals, and Arab MPs were ousted from power on Tuesday after 18 months of making diplomatic breakthroughs with Turkey and Lebanon and keeping the economy humming.
With the conflict with the Palestinians resuming and Jewish-Arab tensions escalating within Israel, Netanyahu’s rightist Likud and related parties won 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
After 85 percent of the votes were tabulated on Wednesday, Netanyahu told supporters that they were “on the verge of a very significant win” and promised a “stable, national administration.”
His opponents in the current government, led by centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid, won 51 seats, with the rest held by a small, unaffiliated Arab party.
According to his office, Lapid thanked Netanyahu and directed his team to plan an orderly transition of power.
“Any political consideration comes after the State of Israel,” Lapid stated. “For the sake of the Israeli people and the State of Israel, I wish Netanyahu prosperity.”
According to the results, Netanyahu, on trial for corruption, will be invited by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to form a cabinet, which is expected to begin next week.
Netanyahu will have 28 days to build the most right-wing Israeli cabinet in history.
Meanwhile, the president has yet to officially charge Netanyahu with establishing a government, which may take weeks.
“It is now necessary to enforce order here. The moment has come to have a landlord, “Likud’s potential senior partner, Itamar Ben-Gvir of the far-right Religious Zionism party, tweeted.
He was reacting to a stabbing reported by police in Jerusalem.
According to doctors, in a separate incident in Israel’s West Bank, troops killed an Islamic Jihad militant and a 45-year-old civilian. When asked about the latter’s death, the army said it opened fire after Palestinians attacked it with rocks and petrol bombs.
Later that evening, air attack sirens sounded in southern Israel when terrorists in Gaza launched a rocket that was presumably intercepted by missile defences, according to the military.
Ben-Gvir, a West Bank settler and former member of Kach, a Jewish militant group on Israel’s and the United States terrorist watchlists, aspires to become police minister.
According to Israeli media quoting political sources, the new government could be formed by mid-month. Previous coalitions have had narrower legislative majorities in recent years, making them vulnerable to no-confidence moves.
With coalition-building talks yet to commence, it was unclear what role Ben-Gvir may play in a future government. Both he and Netanyahu have sworn to serve all citizens since their election.
However, Ben-rise Gvir has alarmed the 21% Arab minority and center-left Jews, particularly Palestinians whose US-sponsored statehood discussions with Israel broke down in 2014.
While Washington has publicly reserved judgment before the formation of the new Israeli government, a State Department spokeswoman on Wednesday emphasized the countries’ “common ideals.”
“We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to embrace the ideals of an open, democratic society, such as tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly minority groups,” said the spokeswoman.
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides stated that he spoke with Netanyahu and expressed his desire to “work together to sustain the unbreakable link.”
