Hours after opposition leader Isaac Herzog conceded defeat on Wednesday morning, Netanyahu called Naftali Bennett, the hard-right pro-settlement leader of the Jewish Home party, to open negotiations over the shape of his new coalition.
Speaking on a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon, Netanyahu said he was “thrilled by the heavy responsibility” of his victory.
According to reports in the Hebrew media, Netanyahu has already approached Aryeh Deri of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, Avigdor Lieberman, who leads Yisrael Beiteinu, and former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, who leads a new centrist party Kulanu, which campaigned on social and economic issues.
The calls sketched out the likely shape of Netanyahu’s new government, should he succeed in putting together a coalition in the next few weeks.
That appears to be a government more rightwing and religious than its previous incarnation, reflecting Netanyahu’s own sharp tack rightwards in the last days of the election campaign, as he declared his opposition to a two-state peace solution and vowed to push ahead with settlement building.
Kahlon, who hedged his bets during the campaign over whether he would back Herzog or Netanyahu for prime minister, appeared to indicate on Wednesday morning that Kulanu – which won 10 seats – was actively considering joining a government led by Netanyahu.
“I need to ensure that the Kulanu will be able to keep its promises to the voters. Ten seats is more than 320,000 people, people who voted for us and put their faith in us, and we must meet this challenge,” he said.
Likud itself took 30 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, but despite the scale of the win, Netanyahu’s victory is likely to carry heavy political and diplomatic costs for Israel.
Netanyahu appears locked on a collision course with Palestinians and the international community after disavowing his previous support for a two-state solution made in a speech in 2009.
His return to power on the back of his unequivocal opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state – a key policy of Washington and the European Union – seems certain to exacerbate his already difficult relationship with the US administration of Barack Obama during the president’s final two years in office.
Assuming he can form a government before the beginning of next month, Netanyahu will face an immediate crisis, with Palestinians determined to present on 1 April claims of war crimes against Israel over its 48-year occupation of the West Bank and last year’s war in Gaza.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, expressed those sentiments as it became clear that Netanyahu was heading for victory.
“It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that, we say clearly that we will go to The Hague tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify,” he declared.
If Netanyahu follows through on his pledges it would put him in conflict with the Obama administration and the EU, which has been weighing steps including trade measures to sanction Israel for its settlements policy.
His victory also raises questions about what happens to policy on Iran, with Obama determined to pursue negotiations on its nuclear programme and Netanyahu determined to scupper any deal.
Most Israelis had gone to sleep on Tuesday night with three television exit polls showing the two main parties tied at about 27 seats each, and expecting weeks of horse trading between the Israeli parties to try to negotiate a government.
But by early on Wednesday morning, it was becoming clear that the exit polls had underestimated turnout for Likud, which had mobilised support in recent days.
Conceding defeat on Wednesday morning, Herzog said he had spoken with Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory and wish him luck.
He said his leftist Zionist Union party would continue to be an alternative to Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud. The Arab Israeli Joint List emerged as the third largest party with 14 seats.
“Against all odds: a great victory for Likud,” a beaming Netanyahu told cheering supporters in a speech at his election headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.
“The reality isn’t waiting on us. Reality isn’t taking a break. The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for the sake of the country’s security, economy, and society, and that is what I will do.”
As it emerged that Herzog had faltered at the last minute having gone into the voting with a lead of up to four seats in opinion polls before Tuesday, Netanyahu and his closest allies vowed he would seek to form a rightwing government with Bennett.
Netanyahu sealed the deal at the end of a fractious campaign marked by mud-slinging, stunts and an appeal to the fear among Israel’s rightwingers that a defeat for him would have dire consequences for the country’s security.
In the past few days he made a direct appeal to national religious and settler votes vowing in unequivocal terms not to allow the creation a Palestinian state and promising to continue building in occupied east Jerusalem.
He warned in vague terms of a conspiracy by the left and foreign governments to remove him from office and on election day, and posted an inflammatory Facebook video in which he accused pro-Herzog activists of bussing in Israeli-Arab voters.
“The rule of the rightwing is in danger. Arab voters are going to the polls in droves!” Netanyahu warned. “Go to the polling stations! Vote Likud!”
Lieberman, Israel’s pugnacious rightwing foreign minister, appeared to be one of the biggest losers, only narrowly avoiding falling below the electoral threshold.
Shortly after the exit polls were released, the Likud minister Silvan Shalom said that Netanyahu would invite Bennett, Lieberman, the ultra-Orthodox parties and Kahlon to join a rightwing coalition in the next two days.
“The results were a very clear yes to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Likud to carry on leading. His results were very strong and beyond all the polls taken in the last few weeks. I know very many Israelis came out to vote Likud to keep the national camp and right wing in power and not allow the left wing to take power,” he said.
Original Article
Source: theguardian.com/
Author: Peter Beaumont
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