Benyamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, addresses his supporters after the announcement of the first results of the parliamentary elections on Tuesday, November 2, 2022. OREN ZIV / AP
Benyamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies won a clear majority of seats in parliament after Tuesday’s parliamentary elections, the Israel Electoral Commission said on Thursday (November 3).
The former prime minister’s Likud won 34 seats in the final count, the ultra-Orthodox parties 18 seats and the far-right alliance 14. The right-wing bloc controls 64 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. In contrast, the bloc of the outgoing prime minister, the Yaïr Lapid centre, won 51 seats.
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Mr Lapid congratulated his rival on his “victory” on Thursday night, his spokesman said 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 the outgoing prime minister. in a tweet.
Five elections in less than four years
Israelis on Tuesday voted for their fifth legislature in three and a half years in a politically divided country struggling to form or maintain coalitions. Last year, the outgoing prime minister rallied a motley coalition (right, left, center and an Arab party) to support the rule of Binyamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, who ruled from 1996 to 1999 , to put an end to it and from 2009 to 2021.
Once the final results are known, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose function is essentially symbolic, must appoint an elected official to form a government. The latter then has forty-two days to do so.
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