The Israeli elections

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Shir Hever: Most Israelis believe to maintain a Jewish majority requires a show of negotiations but a real permanent occupation of Palestinian territories

Netanyahu, right wing claim victory in Israeli elections despite setback

RT,

22 January, 2013

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu alliance and other right-wing parties are winning Israel’s parliamentary elections, exit polls suggest. However, the country's right suffered a setback as support for center-left parties surged.

Shortly after the polls across the country closed, the prime minister claimed victory based on exit poll results. "According to the exit polls, it is clear that Israelis decided that they want me to continue serving as prime minister, and that I form as broad a government as possible," Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, said on his Facebook page.

The real surprise of the night is the center-left Yesh Atid (There is a Future) Party, which is believed to have come second, with some 18 or 19 seats in the Knesset. Strong voter turnout is thought to have boosted support for the center-left, energizing an army of undecided voters. The party led by former television talk show host Yair Lapid won among middle-class, secular voters by promising to resolve a range of social issues.

In a four per cent increase from the 2009 election, 66.6 per cent of eligible Israeli voters went to the polls this year (not including soldiers), +972 Magazine reports.

The once dominant Labour party led by Shelly Yachimovich was projected to take third place with 17 seats.

According to the exit polls the right wing gets 61 seats in the Knesset and center-left 59, Haaretz reported.

If the exit poll projections are correct, it brings hawkish right-winger Netanyahu to his third term in office, which means that an Israeli-Palestinian peace will most likely be out of reach for another four years.

Netanyahu’s Likud Party is already aligned in a single bloc with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu group and is expected to seek an alliance with a new nationalist party, Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home).

Israeli settlement policy, a central issue for nationalist forces in the country, has drawn criticism even from Washington, apparently causing a breach in relations between the previously close allies Israel and the US.

Iran will also remain on top of Israel’s agenda in the case of a Netanyahu win. The Israeli prime minister has vowed he will not let Tehran complete its rumored nuclear weapons program, which he claims is due to be finalized this summer.