New Delhi: Israel's former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, could return to power after exit polls showed his bloc gaining parliamentary majority. Addressing his supporters on Tuesday night in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, his right-wing camp was on the cusp of a great election win, reported Reuters.
“We have won a huge vote of confidence from the people of Israel,” Reuters reported Netanyahu telling his cheering supporters at his Likud party election headquarters.
“We are on the brink of a very big victory.”
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption — which he denies, vowed to form a “stable, national government".
Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, governing for 12 consecutive years – and 15 years altogether – before he was ousted last year by a diverse coalition led by the centrist Yair Lapid.
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Netanyahu who is backed by far-right and religious allies said on Tuesday that he would wait for the actual vote count, with final results expected in the coming days.
“The people want a different way. They want security,” Netanyahu said. "They want power, not weakness … they want diplomatic wisdom, but with firmness", the former Israei PM added, as reported by Reuters.
Netanyahu's far-right allies
Netanyahu has been counting his support from West Bank settler Itamar Ben-Gvir and his ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism list, emerging from political margins to now as the third largest party in the parliament as well as fellow far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich.
This could be a government which may alarm allies including Washington, as Ben-Gvir is a former member of Kach, a group that is on Israeli and US terrorist watchlist.
To allay fears abroad, Netanyahu, who had in 2020 forged formal diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, on Tuesday, said a government under his leadership would act responsibly, avoid “unnecessary adventures” and “expand the circle of peace", according to Reuters.
The exit polls are preliminary, and the final results could change as votes are tallied. However, they pointed to a continued rightward shift in the Israeli electorate, dimming hopes for peace with the Palestinians.