Election officials were tallying the final votes from national elections on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking likely to reclaim the premiership with a comfortable majority backed by far-right allies.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Although a last-minute surprise is still possible if a left-wing Meretz is able to sneak past the electoral threshold needed to enter parliament and trim Netanyahu's majority, this was not going to affect overall right-wing victory.
The likelihood was small, and members of Netanyahu's expected coalition were already jockeying for portfolios in what will be Israel's most right-wing government.
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. Some 90% of ballots were counted by Thursday morning and final results could come later in the day.
As it stands, Netanyahu, together with far-Right factions and ultra-Orthodox allies are expected to secure 65 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, or Knesset. His opponents, led by caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, were expected to win 50 seats.
Netanyahu's expected win and his likely 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 union known as the Religious Zionist Party, whose main candidate, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir, who has made controversial comments surrounding a plan to deport Arab legislators who are not loyal to the state, says he wants to be named head of the ministry that is in charge of the police, the Public Security Ministry.
The Religious Zionist Party's leader, Bezalel Smotrich, has his sights set on the Defense Ministry. As the votes were being counted, Israeli-Palestinian violence was flaring. One Palestinian who threw a firebomb was killed by Israeli police while a Palestinian stabbed a police officer in Jerusalem's Old City and was then shot by forces. His condition wasn't immediately known.
Ben-Gvir used the incidents to promise a tougher approach to Palestinian attackers once he enters government.
"The time has come to restore security to the streets," he tweeted. "The time has come for a terrorist who goes out to carry out an attack to be taken out!"
After the results are formally announced, Israel's ceremonial president taps one candidate, usually from the largest party, to form a government. They then have four weeks to do so. Netanyahu is likely to wrap up talks within that time, but the Religious Zionist Party is expected to drive a hard bargain for its support.
The polarizing Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, was ousted in 2021 after 12 consecutive years in power by an ideologically diverse coalition that included for the first time in Israel's history a small Arab party. The coalition collapsed in the spring over infighting.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving wealthy associates and media moguls. He denies wrongdoing, seeing the trial as a witch hunt against him orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased judicial system.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
