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Israel: Netanyahu and Gantz neck-and-neck in exit polls

  • April 09, 2019

Contradictory exit polls for Israel’s parliamentary elections on Tuesday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and the opposition Blue and White party, lead by Ex-military chief Benny Gantz, in a tight race that is too close to call.

Exit polls at past Israeli elections have turned out to be unreliable, so should be treated with caution.

Whichever party wins the most seats in a tight race, they are certain to need coalition allies to gain a majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

What we know so far

  • Channel 11 has given the Blue and White party a narrow lead over the Likud (37 seats versus 36)
  • Channel 12 has the Blue and White party with 37 seats and Likud at 33
  • Channel 13 has both parties tied with the same number of seats, 36 each
  • Adding in the two main parties’ likely coalition allies, Channel 10 TV estimated that each rival bloc commanded half the chamber, 60 seats each
  • Both the Likud party and the Blue and White party claimed victory 

Both parties claim win

Blue and White leader Gantz and his number two Yair Lapid rwere quick to release a statement saying: “We won! The Israeli public has had their say! Thank you to the thousands of activists and over a million voters. These elections have a clear winner and a clear loser.”

Netanyahu also claimed his party had won. “The right-wing bloc led by Likud won a clear victory. I thank the citizens of Israel for their trust,” he said. I will begin forming a right-wing government with our natural partners tonight.”

Under Israel’s electoral system with proportional representation, no single party has ever won an outright majority in the Knesset.

The opposition: Ex-military chief Benny Gantz is the leader of the new centrist Blue and White party and Netanyahu’s biggest threat in the elections. Gantz teamed up with lawmaker Yair Lapid to form the new centrist party, which has had a slight edge in most polls over Netanyahu’s Likud. Gantz campaigned using his military credentials and promised to undo damage that he says Netanyahu inflicted on the country with divisive politics. He has also spoken in favor of a peace agreement while maintaining Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and retaining the settlement blocs. 

Netanyahu and Likud: Netanyahu has been in power for 13 years. In an attempt to gain the appeal of the right, he has made a deeply controversial pledge to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Netanyahu has built a reputation as guarantor of the country’s security and economic growth, but his alleged corruption has potentially lost him voters.

Read more: Is Israel ready for fundamental political change?

Netanyahu hoping for Trump boost

Netanyahu has always maintained strong ties with Washington. On the evening of the election, Trump listed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in what is the first time that Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group.

Read more: Is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terror group as US says?

It’s one of several major US policy switches that were warmly welcomed by Netanyahu, starting when Trump made the controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announced the US embassy would be moved there from Tel Aviv. He has also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

law/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/israel-netanyahu-and-gantz-neck-and-neck-in-exit-polls/a-48267994?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

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