Terrorist Netanyahu wins close election.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anticipated his victory on Tuesday night, and these early results appear to secure him a third consecutive term – or a fourth, if the 1996-1999 period is considered: "Against all odds, a great victory for Likud. A great victory for the people of Israel," Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter account; based on the count announced by the Electoral Commission, Likud will have 30 seats, compared to 24 for the Zionist Union.
AFP - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party was leading the elections on Wednesday morning (local time) with 23,73% of the vote, overtaking the center-left list of Labor's Isaac Herzog, which had 19,06%, the Central Election Commission announced in a partial bulletin.
The Commission released the numbers on its website after 70% of the votes were counted. The body has not yet disclosed what this represents in terms of seats.
Netanyahu anticipated his victory on Tuesday night, and these early results appear to secure him a third consecutive term – or a fourth, if the 1996-1999 period is considered.
"Against all odds, a great victory for Likud. A great victory for the people of Israel," Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter account.
According to Israeli state radio, based on the results announced by the Electoral Commission, Likud will have 30 seats, compared to 24 for the Zionist Union.
A coalition of Arab parties would come in third place, with 12 to 13 seats, according to projections based on exit polls, the best result for these four parties in Israel's history.
Herzog declared that the results qualify him to be prime minister.
"Everything is still open," the leader of the Zionist Union told supporters gathered in Tel Aviv.
In the Israeli political and electoral system, the president is not obligated to call upon the leader of the party with the most votes to form the new government.
At least 5,88 million voters were called to vote in more than ten thousand polling stations spread across schools, hospitals, and other locations throughout the country. Polling places opened at 5 a.m. (2 a.m. Brasília time) and closed at 20 p.m. (17 p.m.).
Due to the typical fragmentation of the Israeli political scene, voters may already have an idea of the configuration of their 20th Knesset, but it could take weeks before they know who the new head of government is.
Netanyahu, 65, prime minister since March 2009, has campaigned progressively to the right to regain ground, to the point of announcing that he would not approve the project of a Palestinian state if he returns to power.
"It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and therefore we are clearly stating that we will go to The Hague (International Criminal Court, ICC)," declared the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat.
"We have all heard Netanyahu's statements against a Palestinian state and in favor of continued settlement activity: now it is up to the international community to take the initiative regarding Palestine's accession to the ICC and its membership in more international organizations," he added.
The mobilization of the Arabs: It was Netanyahu himself who precipitated these early elections, called two years earlier than planned. At the end of 2014, he broke the governing coalition, believing he was in a position of strength against his adversaries, particularly Herzog.
Herzog, 54, and his ally, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, based their campaign on economic and social issues. Herzog could become the first Labor head of government in 14 years.
Of the 25 lists in competition, 11 are predicted to surpass the minimum required to reach the division of seats.
In front of a school in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood of Jerusalem, several voters expressed the diversity of their concerns.
Heitnar Chaim, a 50-year-old Jewish man wearing a kippah, voted for the ultra-Orthodox because "in recent years the 'Haredim' (Orthodox Jews) have been mistreated" and, "as a doctor who should treat them, (he is) well placed to see that poverty has increased."
Yacobi Gideon, 60, voted for Kulanu, the list of centrist Moshe Kahlon, a former Likud member whom almost everyone sees as key to a future coalition.
"With the left and the right, nothing changes. So I voted for Kahlon, who is the only one I trust to change things in the economic sphere," says Gideon.
Descendants of Palestinians who remained on their lands after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the Arab-Israelis mobilized en masse with the goal of getting rid of Netanyahu.
"It's the first time I've seen so many people," commented Ehab Hamam, 37, in front of a polling station in the city of Haifa, where Arabs and Jews live, as 50 people waited to vote.
"Voting is telling the right wing that we are here," he concluded.