Israeli Elections
Labor leader Avi Gabbay is trying to evade responsibility for the party’s April 9 disaster, but Israel’s oldest political party was on the skids long before he was even elected chairman.
After days of conflict with the Central Elections Committee and demands for vote recounts, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked close the book on Israel’s 2019 elections.
Though coalition talks are still underway, Netanyahu is believed to be likely to form a government comprised of the Likud (35), Shas (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Union of Right-Wing Parties (5), Kulanu (4) and Yisrael Beytenu (5).
“In many ways, liberal journalists are recycling the scripts they used in covering the 2015 Israeli elections. Back then, they scolded Netanyahu for ‘hardline’ or even ‘racist’ rhetoric that “went for the gutter,” said Rich Noyes, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center.
“With the end of the vote count and the announcement of final results, I congratulate you on the achievement in the elections,” Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The American Jewish community on both sides of the political coin reacts to the victory of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud in Israel’s national elections on April 9.
Confusion around the possibility that the New Right Party passed the minimum threshold to enter the Knesset increased as announcements that the party succeeded were quickly followed by saying it had failed.
Despite tying Likud at 35 seats each, the poor showing of other left-wing parties, such as Labor and Meretz, meant there was no clear path forward to put together a 60-seat ruling coalition for Blue and White.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that while the results have yet to be final, “it looks like Bibi has won that race … I think we’ll see some pretty good action in terms of peace.”
The number of ballots cast for parties that will not pass the electoral threshold necessary to win any seats in Israel’s 21st Knesset could be the highest in Israeli history—approximately 325,000—the equivalent of 10 parliamentary seats.
With some 95 percent of the votes counted, right-wing bloc holds a large lead over the left • New Right Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut Party fails to pass minimum threshold • Arab parties win nine total seats, fewer than in 20th Knesset • Haredi parties hold strong.
With some 95 percent of the vote in, the historic Labor Party under chairman Avi Gabbay won only six seats, an all-time low • In 2013, Labor won 15 seats • MK Eitan Cabel: “Labor’s failure is down to Gabbay and Gabbay alone.”
