Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party remains the largest political force in Israel after an unprecedented fourth parliamentary election in two years, exit polls show after election day, the BTA quoted DPA as saying.
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The ruling party is expected to win 31-33 seats in the 120-member Knesset, according to surveys broadcast by the country’s three main television channels.
In second place is the party “Yesh Atid” (“There is a Future”) of opposition leader Yair Lapid, which is expected to win 16-18 seats.
According to exit polls, the bloc of parties opposing Netanyahu will have 59 seats in parliament, while the bloc, which wants to retain the longtime prime minister, will have 53-54 seats. This means that Netanyahu could have a majority if the settler-backed Yamina party, led by Naftali Bennett, which with 7-8 seats emerges as a balancer between the two blocs, agrees to join the prime minister’s coalition.
Thus, Netanyahu will be able to form a government for the seventh time in his political career.
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Benjamin Netanyahu kisses his wife Sarah through the mask after the vote
Photo: AP / BTA
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