Israel's ex-premier and leader of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters, flanked by his wife Sara, at campaign headquarters in Jerusalem early on Nov 2, 2022, after the end of voting for national elections. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
JERUSALEM – Exit polls from Israel's parliamentary elections suggested Tuesday that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc has a good chance of making a comeback after the country's fifth elections since 2019.
Exit polls of three main Israeli TV channels indicated that the long-time leader and his alliance of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties won 61-62 seats in the 120-seat parliament, suggesting they have enough seats to form a ruling coalition government.
Exit polls of three main Israeli TV channels indicated that the long-time leader and his alliance of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties won 61-62 seats in the 120-seat parliament, suggesting they have enough seats to form a ruling coalition government
"We have won a huge vote of confidence from the people of Israel," a smiling Netanyahu told cheering supporters at his Likud party election headquarters. "We are on the brink of a very big victory."
His voice hoarse from weeks of campaigning across the country, Netanyahu vowed to form a "stable, national government," as the crowd interrupted him singing "Bibi, king of Israel." Exit polls suggested his Likud party won 30 to 31 seats.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party was projected to gain 22-24 seats and his wider alliance to secure 54 to 55 seats, according to the exit polls.
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Lapid said early Wednesday that it was too early to make conclusions about the final outcome. "Nothing is decided" until the last vote is counted, said Lapid.
The polls also showed that ultra-nationalist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir's Religious Zionism won 14-15 seats, becoming Israel's third-largest party. Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, tweeted that the party "made history." The pro-settler leader wrote: "This is the day God made a revelation and we rejoice in it."
Hadash-Ta'al, an alliance of two Arab parties that doesn't support either of the blocs, is projected to win four seats, exit polls indicated.
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The elections were held after repeated elections with inconclusive results that have paralyzed the Israeli political system for almost four years.
Netanyahu's record 12-year consecutive reign ended in June 2021 when centrist Lapid and his coalition partner Naftali Bennett managed to stitch together an alliance that included an Arab party for the first time.
Supporters of Israel's Otzma Yehudit party, which is led by lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, react at campaign headquarters in Jerusalem on November 1, 2022, after the end of voting for national elections. (JALAA MAREY / AFP)
Security on the streets and soaring prices topped the list of voter concerns in a campaign triggered by defections from Prime Minister Lapid's unlikely ruling coalition of right-wing, liberal and Arab parties.
The outcome could be affected by whether or not Balad, a small Arab party, gets over the threshold for entry into parliament, which could shake up the distribution of seats and potentially thwart Netanyahu.
The Central Elections Committee said it had found no sign of any manipulation and said there was no basis to rumors of supposed fraud.
In a statement Tuesday, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) slammed the elections, noting that it "will not confer on Israel any legitimacy."
No matter who wins the elections, "Israel will remain a permanent occupation power on the Palestinian land," Hamas spokesman in Gaza Abdul Latif al-Qanou said in the statement.
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With Reuters inputs