What a comeback for Benjamin Netanyahu! With 86% of the votes counted in Israel’s 5th Election in the last four years, it appears former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to become Prime Minister again! What a blessing for Israel and for the United States!
As the ballots in the Knesset election were being tallied Wednesday, all signs were pointing to a resounding victory for opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his bloc of right-wing, far-right and religious parties, a result that would end a political crisis that has seen five general elections held in under four years.
With some 86 percent of the votes counted, the bloc of parties loyal to Netanyahu was predicted to win 65 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, a comfortable majority. The numbers were expected to shift as officials had yet to begin tallying the so-called double-envelope ballots cast by members of security forces, prisoners, people with disabilities, diplomats serving abroad, and others, but significant change to the balance between Netanyahu’s bloc and its opponents was not seen as likely.
The coalition shaping up to be Israel’s next is made up of Netanyahu’s Likud party, ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, and the far-right Religious Zionism party led by Bezalel Smotrich, which includes extremist Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit faction. Ben Gvir is seen as the biggest star of the election, having gone from leading a fringe party to becoming a popular leader in a party representing some 10% of Israeli voters. . . .
Times of Israel
It appears the people of Israel are ready for strong leadership again. No one thought Netanyahu could win this size a victory. Most believed he would struggle just to get the 61 vote majority needed to form a Government. But he’s headed for a 65 vote majority bloc in the 120-seat Knesset! It’s going to be great to watch how things develop.