Netanyahu bloc wins majority in Knesset, final poll results show

Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies have won a decisive majority in Israel’s parliamentary election, paving the way for him to return to power at the head of one of the most rightwing governments in the country’s history.

A final tally released by the election committee on Thursday evening showed that a bloc combining Netanyahu’s Likud, the extreme-right Religious Zionism and two ultraorthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, would command 64 seats in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset.

The bloc led by the Yesh Atid party of outgoing prime minister Yair Lapid won 51 seats, while the non-aligned Hadash-Ta’al alliance won five seats.

Netanyahu posted a brief message on Twitter thanking voters for their “tremendous support” and hailing a “huge victory”.

Lapid phoned Netanyahu to congratulate him on his victory and instructed government to prepare for a transition of power.

“The State of Israel comes before any political consideration,” Lapid said in a statement released by his office. “I wish Netanyahu success, for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu and his allies still have to reach a coalition agreement before a government is formed. But the results are a personal triumph for the 73-year-old, a polarising figure who has dominated Israeli politics for two decades but saw his fortunes wane over the past two years as he battled allegations of corruption and fell out with former allies.

After serving as prime minister for 15 years over two stints in office, Netanyahu was ousted last year by a sprawling eight-party coalition that brought together parties from across the political spectrum, united mainly by their desire to be rid of him.

However, that coalition — led first by Naftali Bennett and then for the past four months by Lapid — was bedevilled by internal disagreements. It collapsed after just over a year in power, paving the way for Tuesday’s election, the fifth in the past three and a half years.

Opinion polls conducted before the election had predicted a knife-edge race. But the failure of two small parties, the leftwing Meretz and the Arab group Balad, to enter parliament, combined with a surge in support for Religious Zionism, which came third behind Likud and Yesh Atid, ultimately gave Netanyahu’s bloc a larger-than-forecast majority.

Religious Zionism’s performance is likely to strengthen the hands of its leaders — Itamar Ben-Gvir, a once fringe ultranationalist previously convicted of incitement to racism, and the far-right Bezalel Smotrich — in their coalition negotiations with Netanyahu.

Ben-Gvir, who last month appeared at a stand-off between Arab and Jewish youths in East Jerusalem brandishing a gun and urging the police to open fire on Palestinians who were throwing stones, has said he wants to be the minister of public security. Smotrich has said he wants the defence ministry.

Netanyahu has insisted Likud should control the most important ministries. He said last year that Ben-Gvir — who until a couple of years ago kept in his house a picture of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinians in a mosque in 1994 — was not fit to be a minister.

But as Ben-Gvir’s popularity rose in the run-up to this week’s election, Netanyahu conceded that he could serve in his cabinet. Ben-Gvir said on Wednesday that he would take part in a “completely rightwing” government, but added he would work for all of Israel, including “those who hate me”.