Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu
The prime minister’s claims came after exit polls released by major Israeli television stations projected around 51 seats each for Netanyahu’s bloc and Eisenkot’s camp, with Arab-led parties winning about 18 seats.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that his right-wing bloc secured a “clear, decisive majority” and called for a “right-wing, national, strong government”, even as exit polls suggested that neither his camp nor the opposition led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot had secured the 61 seats required to form a majority in the 120-member Knesset. “What we’ve seen is that the Likud party is the largest party and nobody can compete with us,” he said. He attacked what he called “criminal political investigations” into him. “Iran is weaker than ever, Israel is stronger than ever,” he said. “Israel is facing a historic, one-time opportunity along with our friend President Trump” to “remove the Iranian threat once and for all”.
In his first reaction to the exit poll projections, Netanyahu addressed supporters at Likud’s election headquarters in Jerusalem, saying his party remained Israel’s largest political force and insisting that the right-wing bloc had enough support to govern. “The second thing that is clear as well is that the right block has a majority. And it is a decisive majority. Netanyahu also criticised television channels for projecting stronger results for opposition parties and accused them of discouraging his supporters from voting. The projections remain preliminary and could change as official counting progresses.
Turnout exceeded 77 per cent, the highest since 1999, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee. The president will now be tasked with identifying the party leader best placed to assemble a governing coalition.