With 97% of the scrutiny, his coalition would win 65 of the 120 seats in Parliament, although the final result -which will not be known until tomorrow- could modify this forecast, since the counting of hundreds of thousands of ballots is pending, mainly that of soldiers, prisoners and diplomats. Though the formation of a coalition government could drag on for weekseverything indicates that thanks to his allies from the extreme religious right, Netanyahu, with several pending court cases for corruption, will return to office which he already held between 1996 and 1999 and between 2009 and 2021.
Israel would thus have a new turn to the right, backed by an unprecedented escalation of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, whose members use incendiary anti-Arab and anti-Lgbtiq+ rhetoric. While Likud, the formation of Netanyahu, would be the most voted, with 31 legislators, its Zionist allies would come in third place, with 14 seatsaccording to the Times of Israel newspaper.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Courtesy: The Times of Israel
The leader of Religious Zionism, Itamar Ben Gvir, promised that with him there will be a “completely right-wing” governmentalthough he assured that he will work for everyone, “even for those who hate me”, he specified. Ben Gvir is a disciple of a racist rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was expelled from Parliament and whose Kach party was described as a “terrorist group” by the United States before he was assassinated in New York in 1990.
Meanwhile, the centrist Yesh Atid, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, is in second position with 24 seats, but its rise is not enough to offset the decline of other partnerslike the left-wing group Meretz, which would not exceed 3.25% of the votes necessary to enter the Legislative. Nor would the nationalist Arab Balad party obtain representation, while Raam (moderate Islamist) would have five parliamentarians, like the secular Arab list Hadash-Taal.
Yair Lapid
Photo: @yairlapid
The candidacy of the Israeli Arab parties had obtained a record result of 15 seats in 2020when they ran under a single list, but were penalized in this election for appear scattered in three groups. National Unity, the formation led by the current Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, appears in the provisional count with 12 deputies, the same that the ultra-Orthodox of Shas would obtain. Completing the parties with parliamentary representation are the also ultra-Orthodox United Judaism for the Torah (eight seats), Avigdor Lieberman’s Our House is Israel (Yisrael Beytenu) (five) and Labor (four).
Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister since the founding of the State of Israel, lost power in 2021, defeated by a heteroclite coalition created by Lapid. “Until the last ballot is counted, nothing is decided”said his rival, according to the AFP news agency.
Naftali Bennet and Benjamin Netanyahu.jpg
Israelis turned out en masse in the country’s fifth legislative election in less than four yearswith a Netanyahu determined to return to power, despite being tried for corruption. The vote takes place in a context of tension in the occupied West Bank, after a series of anti-Israeli attacks by Palestinians, especially in the spring, and more than 2,000 Israeli military operations since then in that Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. These operations caused more than 120 deaths on the Palestinian sidethe worst balance in seven years.
This Wednesday morning the Israeli army killed a Palestinian who had previously seriously wounded a soldier ramming him with his vehicle at a checkpoint in the West Bank. Before this panorama, the Government of Palestine today demanded “protection” from the international community before the foreseeable formation of the most anti-Palestinian Executive in years in Israel led by Netanyahu and made up of a strongly anti-Arab party.
Israeli soldiers in the West Bank
Photo: Reuters
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said in a statement that he fears “aggressive policies” if Netanyahu forms a government with the Zionist Party. Religious of the leader Itamar Ben Gvir. “We had no hope that the elections would result in a partner for peace,” he noted, illustrating that the little difference between the political parties in Israel is comparable to that which exists “between a Pepsi and a Coca-Cola”.
Before this requestleaders of the Arab League expressed today in Algeria their “absolute support” for the Palestinians, at a time when Netanyahu’s return to power is taking shape, in alliance with the religious extreme right. The League expressed its support for the Palestinians despite several of the 22 countries that comprise it have joined in recent years the few that maintain relations with Israel.
US Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
in 2020United Arab Emirates normalized its relations with the Hebrew State, within the framework of agreements negotiated with the mediation of the United States. Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan followed suit. The more than likely return of Netanyahu to powerat the head of a more extreme coalition than the one that accompanied him in his previous administrationsprompted a warning from the United States.
True to the style of the White House, andhe State Department spokesman, Ned Price, made it known that he hopes the next Israeli government will respect the rights of minorities adding that his relationship with Israel “has always been based on our shared interests, but more importantly, our shared values.” “We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open and democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, in particular minority groups.”he pointed.
Source: Ambito
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