The former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, predicted that his right-wing party will win the election with a landslide on Wednesday, stating that voters had given him a "great vote of confidence."
After Israel's sixth election in less than four years, with nearly 85% of the votes counted, Netanyahu's conservative Likud and its potential far-right and religious partners were on track to hold a majority in parliament.
“We are on the brink of a very big victory,” a smiling Netanyahu told cheering supporters at his Likud party election headquarters, his voice hoarse from weeks of campaigning.
Netanyahu's partnership with radical right-winger Itamar Ben-Gvir has frightened Palestinians and alarmed some friends, including the United States. His Religious Zionism group is on track to become the third-largest party. But when the throng stopped him singing "Bibi, king of Israel," Netanyahu, whose position looked to have strengthened after early exit polls showed him with just a razor-thin majority, pledged to build a "stable, national administration."
The record 12-year consecutive reign of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister ended in June 2021 when Lapid joined estranged Netanyahu ally Naftali Bennett to stitch together an unlikely coalition of liberals, rightists, and Arab parties. But the fragile alliance unraveled a year into its rule.
After Israel's sixth election in less than four years, with nearly 85% of the votes counted, Netanyahu's conservative Likud and its potential far-right and religious partners were on track to hold a majority in parliament.
“We are on the brink of a very big victory,” a smiling Netanyahu told cheering supporters at his Likud party election headquarters, his voice hoarse from weeks of campaigning.
Netanyahu's partnership with radical right-winger Itamar Ben-Gvir has frightened Palestinians and alarmed some friends, including the United States. His Religious Zionism group is on track to become the third-largest party. But when the throng stopped him singing "Bibi, king of Israel," Netanyahu, whose position looked to have strengthened after early exit polls showed him with just a razor-thin majority, pledged to build a "stable, national administration."
The record 12-year consecutive reign of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister ended in June 2021 when Lapid joined estranged Netanyahu ally Naftali Bennett to stitch together an unlikely coalition of liberals, rightists, and Arab parties. But the fragile alliance unraveled a year into its rule.
