Tel Aviv, Israel: Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid has congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election win as final results confirmed the former leader’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.
This time Netanyahu, the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, won a clear parliamentary majority, boosted by ultranationalist and religious parties.
“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.
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.
Read the article by Tia Goldenberg in The Sydney Morning Herald.