Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on his election win as final results confirmed the 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.
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"The state of Israel comes before any political consideration," Lapid said. "I wish Netanyahu success, for the sake of the people of Israel and the state of Israel."
Lapid, who has served as interim prime minister for the past four months, made the announcement just before the final results were released showing Netanyahu securing a parliamentary majority with his religious and ultranationalist allies. Netanyahu expected to form the country's most right-wing government in history when he takes power, likely in the coming weeks.
Israel held its fifth election in four years on Tuesday, a protracted political crisis that saw voters divided over Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
According to the final results, which still need to be certified in the coming days, Netanyahu and his ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies captured 64 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, or Knesset. His opponents in the current coalition, led by Lapid, won 51 seats, with the remainder held by a small unaffiliated Arab party.
🔴 i24NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Israel's outgoing PM Yair Lapid held a phone call earlier today with Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani
The call comes ahed of the arrival of Israeli fans to the country and after the agreement to open an Israeli consular office during the World Cup
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) November 14, 2022
Netanyahu's victory and his comfortable majority puts an end to Israel's political instability, for now. But it leaves Israelis split over their leadership and over the values that define their state: Jewish or democratic. Netanyahu's top partner in the government is expected to be the far-right Religious Zionist party, whose main candidate, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is a disciple of a racist anti-Arab rabbi.
Netanyahu still has to be officially tasked by the president with forming a government, a process that could take weeks. "The time has come to impose order here. The time has come for there to be a landlord," Ben-Gvir tweeted.
Israeli media, citing political sources, said the new government may be clinched by mid-month. Previous coalitions in recent years have had narrower parliamentary majorities that made them vulnerable to no-confidence motions. With coalition-building talks yet to officially begin, it was still unclear what position Ben-Gvir might hold in a future government. Since the election, both he and Netanyahu have pledged to serve all citizens.
While Washington has publicly reserved judgment pending the new Israeli coalition's formation, a US State Department spokesman on Wednesday emphasized the countries' "shared values".
"We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups," the spokesperson said. US ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said he spoke with Netanyahu and told him he looked forward to "working together to maintain the unbreakable bond."
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