In his address to supporters, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the initial results from Monday’s election, the results of which are poised to make the Likud Party the largest in the next Knesset and on the cusp of forming a new government.
“Tomorrow, after we’ve got some sleep, we will meet [with right-wing leaders] to form a strong, stable government, a good national government for Israel,” Netanyahu said to supporters at the Expo Tel Aviv, which served as the party’s election headquarters.
“This was a great victory for the right-wing camp, and first and foremost a victory for us Likudnikim,” he said following the third round of elections within the course of a year.
Vowing to avoid any more elections, he said that it is “time to heal the rifts.”
“I intend to be the prime minister of every citizen of Israel, every right-wing voter, left-wing voter, Jews and non-Jews, every sector and every gender,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz expressed his disappointment with the results to his supporters.
“I share your feelings of disappointment and pain,” he said at his party’s election headquarters in Tel Aviv, adding that he hoped for a “different result.”
Updated exit polls reduced Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc from 60 seats to 59, while giving Gantz’s left-wing and Arab party bloc 55 seats. Nevertheless, Netanyahu’s Likud remained firmly in the lead with 36 to 37 seats to Blue and White’s 32 to 33 seats, and close to being able to form a 61-seat coalition government.
