Israel election winner Netanyahu now seeks a Knesset majority
- 9 years ago
Confounding his critics and the opinion polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is celebrating a surprise victory in Israel’s general election.
His next challenge will be putting together a stable coalition.
Netanyahu’s right wing Likud Party won 30 seats in Tuesday’s poll.
His main centre-left rival, the Zionist Union, took second place with 24 seats while a united list of Arab parties came third.
It amounts to a dramatic and unexpected victory.
The last opinion polls published four days before the vote showed the Zionist Union with a four-seat advantage over Likud, which now needs allies to form a majority in the Knesset.
Netanyahu must assemble 61 seats and crossing that threshold will be challenging given the amount of division across Israel’s political landscape.
“The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for them regarding security, economy and society as we committed to do – and we will do so,” he told triumphant suppor
His next challenge will be putting together a stable coalition.
Netanyahu’s right wing Likud Party won 30 seats in Tuesday’s poll.
His main centre-left rival, the Zionist Union, took second place with 24 seats while a united list of Arab parties came third.
It amounts to a dramatic and unexpected victory.
The last opinion polls published four days before the vote showed the Zionist Union with a four-seat advantage over Likud, which now needs allies to form a majority in the Knesset.
Netanyahu must assemble 61 seats and crossing that threshold will be challenging given the amount of division across Israel’s political landscape.
“The citizens of Israel expect us to quickly put together a leadership that will work for them regarding security, economy and society as we committed to do – and we will do so,” he told triumphant suppor