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Elections in Israel: Netanyahu before comeback after swing to the right

Elections in Israel: Netanyahu before comeback after swing to the right

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. By Wednesday morning, however, only about a third of the votes cast had been counted. According to Israeli media reports, smaller parties from the camp of liberal Prime Minister Jair Lapid could fail at the 3.25 percent hurdle. This applies to the left-liberal Meretz party and the conservative Islamic Raam party. The Arab Balad party could also narrowly miss out on entering parliament.

The right-wing religious camp around the 73-year-old Netanyahu achieved a narrow majority of up to 62 of the 120 seats. His Likud party was the strongest force with about a quarter of the seats in parliament. Lapid’s Future Party came in second place. 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.

Source: Stern

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