The former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, predicted that his right-wing party will win the election with a landslide on Wednesday, claiming that voters had given him a “huge vote of confidence.”
After Israel’s fifth election in less than four years, with nearly 70% 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.
With his voice raspy from weeks of campaigning, Netanyahu addressed jubilant supporters at the election headquarters of his Likud party, “We are on the brink of a very big victory.”
In addition to alarming Palestinians, Netanyahu’s collaboration with far-right firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Religious Zionism bloc is expected to overtake the other two parties as the third-largest, has raised concerns among some allies, including the United States.
But when the throng interrupted 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 government.”
A government led by the former premier, who in 2020 established formal diplomatic connections with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, will act responsibly, abstain from “unnecessary adventures,” and “expand the circle of peace.”
The partial results showed Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption accusations he denies, leading a bloc of four parties garnering 67 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. However, the picture may change as more votes are counted.
Support for centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s ruling coalition looked to have fallen after a campaign driven by concerns about security and the expense of living, while Lapid refrained from declaring victory and said he would wait until the official results were in.
Netanyahu, who has been out of power for less than 18 months, added that he will wait for official findings.
The longest-serving Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saw his 12-year rule come to an end in June 2021 when Lapid and Bennett, a former ally of Netanyahu’s, put together an improbable alliance of liberals, right-wingers, and Arab parties. But after only one year of control, the tenuous partnership collapsed.
The impasse preventing Israel’s political system since 2019 has been fueled by Netanyahu’s legal disputes, which have also widened the rift between his supporters and detractors. However, he claimed that Israelis were eager for change.
“The people want a different way. They want security,” Netanyahu said. “They want power, not weakness … they want diplomatic wisdom, but with firmness.”
What role Ben-Gvir and fellow far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich may play in a Netanyahu-led administration is still unknown. But as they pushed the campaign forward from the political periphery, one of its standout characteristics was the power of their ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism faction.
Ben-Gvir, who supports expelling anyone perceived to be unfaithful to Israel, is a former member of Kach, a group on the terrorist watchlists of both Israel and the United States. He was also convicted of inciting racial hatred in the past, though he has since toned down some of his more radical views.
After a campaign that unfolded amid rising violence in the occupied West Bank, with almost daily raids and skirmishes, his emergence alongside Netanyahu has increased Palestinian scepticism about the possibilities for a political solution.