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Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife, Sara and Likud party members greet supporters during Likud’s party as the country waits to hear election results. Photograph: Amir Levy/Getty Images
Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife, Sara and Likud party members greet supporters during Likud’s party as the country waits to hear election results. Photograph: Amir Levy/Getty Images
As we wait for results to come through, a look back at the day’s voting. Oliver Holmes, was in Sanhedria, Jerusalem during the day and has this dispatch.
In Sanhedria, a religious neighbourhood of Jerusalem, television screens in the streets showed the image of Aryeh Deri, a politician and founder of the ultra-Orthodox party, Shas.
People were gathering around and praying at the grave of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the party, which has been in a Netanyahu coalition government.
Gai Ychezkel, 40, said he had voted Shas for the last 20 years. “There is no reason to change. First of all, because Rabbi Yosef said to [vote Shas]. He is the one taking care of Judaism.”
Ychezkel said he believed his vote might help in the afterlife.
“When you vote for Shas, you vote for eternity,” he said. “When you die, your soul goes up. Maybe there is nothing. But if you vote for Shas, maybe you have a chance. Wouldn’t you take that chance?”
Netanyahu set to win most seats with 80% of the vote counted – Knesset website
Partial results with 80% of votes counted showed Netanyahu’s Likud with 38 seats, 8 more than in the previous election in 2015, and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White Party with 36, the Knesset website and Israeli TV channels said several hours after polls closed.
Exit polls on two of Israel’s three main TV channels earlier showed Likud several seats ahead while a third survey put Blue and White one seat ahead of Likud.
Though neither party captured a ruling majority in the 120-member Knesset, according to the polls, the surveys put Netanyahu in a strong position to form a coalition government with right-wing factions, key to an ultimate victory.
“It is a night of colossal victory,” the 69-year-old Netanyahu told cheering supporters in a late-night speech at Likud headquarters, while cautioning that a “long night and possibly day” lay ahead awaiting official results.
Fireworks flared behind him as his wife Sara applauded and kissed him. “He’s a magician,” the crowd chanted.
If he wins, Netanyahu, 69, will be on track to be the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s 71-year history. Netanyahu said he had already begun talks with prospective coalition allies.
Haaretz newspaper reports that partial Israeli election results show prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud winning 38 seats versus 35 for rival Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party.
Two updated exit polls from Israeli television channels also put Netanyahu on a clearer path to victory on Wednesday in Israel’s general election, suggesting he will win one seat more than Blue and White.
One of the polls further improved his chances of forming a coalition government based on smaller rightwing parties allied to Netanyahu.
‘A night of tremendous victory’ – Netanyahu’s speech
Prime Minster of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife, Sara and Likud party members greet supporters during Likud’s party. Photograph: Amir Levy/Getty Images
Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered a speech to supporters at the Likud election party, flanked by his wife Sara. The speech was frequently interrupted by cheers, chants of “Sara!” and boos when Netanyahu talked about the media.
Like Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main rival, Netanyahu claimed victory for his party, saying they had achieved “a stupendous achievement” despite, what he called “a hostile media under impossible conditions”.
Netanyahu also said he would “the prime minister of all of Israel’s citizens, right wing and left wing, Jews and non-Jews alike”, though said he wanted to make it clear that any government he formed “will be a right-wing government”.
Here are some key moments from that speech:
I am very moved this night. This is a night of tremendous victory. Tremendous! God bless for keeping us and maintaining us to reach this time [a Jewish prayer, Shehechiyanu]. I don’t say that as lip service. I say that from the depth of my heart. Because a great sense of mission guides us. A great sense of mission guides me. I act day and night in your name, on your behalf, on behalf of our country, on behalf of our people, on behalf of our land!
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. You brought us an achievement beyond imagination, a stupendous achievement, almost incomprehensible. You brought an enormous achievement, incomprehensible, despite a hostile media under impossible conditions, and the Likud grew dramatically. This is a stunning achievement.
And I want to also tell you something personal. I am very moved that the people of Israel again put its faith in me, for the fifth time and even greater faith. I tell you: it again put its faith in me, and for us and for me, this is unprecedented. When before did we ever get so many seats? I don’t remember. According to the majority of the exit polls, the right-wing bloc led by the Likud will continue to lead the State of Israel in the next four years. And will continue to march the State of Israel toward new heights.
I believe, so I was taught, by my late father Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, and so he was taught by my grandfather of blessed memory, Rabbi Natan Milikowsky Netanyahu, I believe that the Holy One Blessed Be He and history have given the Jewish people another opportunity, a golden opportunity, to turn our country into a strong nation, one of the strongest nations of the world and it is to that end that I do what I do. A strong country, a country in which it is good to live, a country that it is good and safe to live in, for our sake and for the sake of the coming generations, for the sake of the eternal Israel.
I want to tell you, now it is shortly after 2:00 AM (shouting in the audience: haide Sara [hurray for Sara]) Well, I won’t interrupt shouts of haide Sara. Haide Sara!
I want to tell you that we have a long night ahead of us, perhaps also a long day, and we will wait for the final results... And together, all of us worked as one person, until the last minutes before the polling stations closed, to awaken our public and bring them to the polls, in order to win the battle.
All of you, without exception, brought a lot of heart and soul to the difficult battle. And each and every one of you has an important share in this great achievement. Thank you very much.
Tonight, I already began talks with the leaders of the right wing parties, our natural partners. Tonight, almost all of them already declared publicly that they would recommend that I form the next government, recommend me to our president. I intend to finish the work quickly, with the aim of forming a stable national government.
Now I want to make it clear: It will be a right-wing government. But I intend to be the prime minister of all of Israel’s citizens: right wing and left wing, Jews and non-Jews alike, all of Israel’s citizens. For I care for everyone. I care for the soldiers of us all, you know that. I care for the security of us all, you know that. I care for our country, you know that too. That’s how it has been, and that’s how it will be.
Great achievements can be credited to us. It’s not always published, to say the least. But the public is smart, the public knows, the public see. Great achievements are credited to us, but I want to tell you, great challenges also stand before us. In security, in economics, in society, in foreign relations; security challenges and also challenges for normalization and peace with the Arab world. This is happening. It is happening even as we speak. Great challenges in all fields. I am certain that with joint efforts we will overcome all these challenges. For that reason I would like once again to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Likud Party have posted this video of Netanyahu and his wife arriving at the Likud election party and addressing supporters. We’ll have a translation of his speech soon.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud party leader and his wife Sara wave to his supporters. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP
Netanyahu and his wife Sara have arrived on stage. However, as our correspondent Oliver Holmes’ photograph shows, the room is not quite as full as the organisers probably hoped.
Netanyahu’s election party in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Oliver Holmes/The Guardian
Netanyahu’s election party was more subdued that the nearby Blue and White event. Photograph: Oliver Holmes/The Guardian
I have arrived at the Likud election night event, which is also in Tel Aviv and walking distance from Blue and White’s event.
Atmosphere here is much more muted, with fewer chants and celebrations. A lot of people standing around. But to be fair, it’s a huge venue and so not as packed.
While at Blue and White there was a sense the exit polls proved they had a chance, the interpretation here seems to be one of no certain victory for Netanyahu.
Gideon Sa’ar, a prominent member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, was mingling in the crowd. Asked if he was worried about the exit polls, he was said it was “an amazing result in very complicated circumstances”.
Spotted at the Likud event: a Trump flag and a mariachi band.
Spotted at Netanyahu’s election party: a Trump flag and a mariachi band. Photograph: Oliver Holmes/The Guardian
Reuters have this explainer about voting in the election and when we should expect to see results:
How long does it take for results to come in?
Final results are expected by Friday, but partial results are published by the Knesset as the vote-counting proceeds, so a clearer picture will begin to emerge before the final tally.
How are results calculated?
Israel has a parliamentary system, which means voters choose from party lists of candidates to serve in the 120-seat Knesset. No party has won a majority since Israel*s first election, in 1949.
In the 2019 election, about 6 million Israelis are eligible to vote. To enter parliament, a party must pass a threshold of at least 3.25% of the national vote, equivalent to four Knesset seats.
With 40 parties running, of which at least 12 have a real chance of passing the threshold, the calculations take time.
What happens after the results are published?
Israel’s president will consult with the leaders of every party that won seats about their preference for prime minister, and will then choose the legislator who he believes has the best chance of putting together a coalition.
The nominee, who does not necessarily have to be the head of the largest party, has up to 42 days to form a government. If he or she fails, the president asks another politician to try. The leading candidates usually have a good idea whether they have majority support before they meet with the president, but things can often change in the process of deal-making.
What sort of coalition could be formed?
Netanyahu will likely seek a coalition similar to his current government, with ultranationalist and Jewish Orthodox parties. Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White Party, will likely have the support of the left-wing parties. But early exit polls predict that even with that he would fall short of a governing majority.
How long until a government in in place?
Past coalition negotiations have often dragged on. Whoever is asked to form the next government will have to accommodate numerous parties, unless Netanyahu and Gantz choose to join forces and form a unity government.
