The suspense is over. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has achieved his long-awaited goal of winning a majority with his religious and far-right allies to once again step on the highest echelons of power.
Despite his corruption trial, Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies from the ultra-Orthodox parties and the far-right “Religious Zionism” list won 64 of the 120 seats in the Knesset (parliament), three more than the majority threshold, it announced. this Thursday night the electoral commission.
Congratulated by the outgoing Prime Minister
Shortly before, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who had ousted Benjamin Netanyahu from power last year by establishing a motley coalition (right, center, left, Arab) that has since imploded, contacted his rival to congratulate him on this victory, at the end of the legislative elections on Tuesday.
“Prime Minister Lapid congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu for his electoral victory and informed the opposition leader who had instructed himself to prepare for an orderly transition,” said his spokesman in a statement.
“The state of Israel is above all political considerations. I wish Netanyahu success for the good of the people of Israel and the state of Israel, ”said Yair Lapid.
Towards the most right-wing government in the history of the country
According to the electoral commission, Benjamin Netanyahu’s “right-wing bloc” gets 64 elected – 32 for his Likud party, 18 for the two Orthodox parties and a record 14 for the far right – in what could be, according to analysts, the largest right-wing government in the history of the country.
The centrist Lapid’s Yesh Atid (“There is a future”) party won 24 seats, his center-right ally Benny Gantz 12 seats, followed by 10 seats for two other parties and five for the Arab Raam party, which had also supported his coalition. . for a total of 51 deputies. The Arab Hadash-Taal party won 5 deputies.
In the proportional Israeli system, the parties must obtain 3.25% of the votes to enter Parliament, a minimum rate that four deputies grants them.
“A disaster” for the left
However, two small hostile games to the Benjamin Netanyahu field, the Training of Left Meretz and the Arab Balad party, obtained a 3.16% support and 2.90%, respectively. For Meretz, who was part of the Yair Lapid coalition and whose four elected officials could have helped deprive Benjamin Netanyahu of the majority, the fate is even more cruel since the party did not reach the objective of 3.25 % by almost 4000 votes.
“The election results are a disaster for Meretz, for the country and personally,” acknowledged party leader Zehava Galon. “Humanist values do not disappear for 3,800 votes (…) we will continue our fight and in the end we will win it,” he added.
To avoid this scenario, Meretz had called on the Labor Party (Left) before the election to form an alliance to ensure they crossed the threshold together. In vain.
The same goes for two Arab parties, Hadash/Taal and Balad, who decided at the last minute not to run on the same electoral list, depriving the anti-Netanyahu camp of many seats in total.
The return of the former prime minister
Nicknamed “Bibi”, Benjamin Netanyahu had not left politics as his opponents wanted but had clung to the position of leader of the opposition with the aim of going back to business to possibly vote for the immunity of deputies and annul his trial for corruption.
In the coming days, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose position is essentially symbolic, will have to officially order Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government. The latter will then have 42 days to distribute the ministerial portfolios.
But according to the Israeli press, the Netanyahu camp did not wait for this formal green light, as the former prime minister ordered Yariv Levin, one of his relatives, to start talks that could get complicated, with the formation of “religious Zionism” in particular.
Rising tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The leader of this party, Bezalel Smotrich, has indicated that he wants the Ministry of Defense, and number 2 Itamar Ben Gvir, that of Public Security, two key positions at the head of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is experiencing its worst moment of violence. in seven years.
This Thursday, four Palestinians – including an assailant, a fighter, but also a teenager – were killed by Israeli forces in different incidents in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
“It’s time to bring security to the streets, to restore order, to show who’s boss, it’s time to kill a terrorist who is carrying out an attack,” said far-right tenor Itamar Ben Gvir.
The appointments of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to sensitive security posts could be “internationally embarrassing” for Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian analyst Khaldoun Barghouti said.
Without wanting to “speculate on a government,” Washington said he hoped that “all Israeli leaders continue to share the values of an open and democratic society that promotes tolerance and respect for all civil society, in particular minority groups.”
Source: BFM TV
