Netanyahu returns to power in Israel as election cements rise of far-right
- Final election results confirmed former premier’s triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance
- Netanyahu’s victory is set to end an unprecedented stalemate in Israel after five elections in less than four years
Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sealed his return to power, as the final vote count from elections this week gave him and his far-right allies a clear majority in parliament.
Results released by the electoral commission on Thursday said that with 99 per cent of votes counted, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party had earned 32 seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.
That combined with 18 for two ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and 14 for the rising extreme-right alliance called Religious Zionism gave the bloc supporting Netanyahu 64 seats.
The parties backing centrist caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid won 51 seats, a definitive win for Netanyahu that spells an end to Israel’s unprecedented era of political deadlock, which forced five elections in less than four years.
The hawkish ex-premier has overseen multiple offensives against Palestinian armed groups in Gaza and, hours after his election win was confirmed, militants in the blockaded strip fired four rockets towards Israel, the army said.
One was intercepted and three others “exploded inside the Gaza strip”, the army further said, confirming the first launches from the territory since a three-day conflict in August between Israel and the Islamic Jihad armed group. No group immediately claimed Thursday’s launches.