Jerusalem: After counting nearly 90 percent of the vote in Israel’s parliamentary elections on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s future is seen as a “cloud of uncertainty”. The political deadlock has continued and for the fifth time, the possibility of elections has increased. Netanyahu’s party has emerged as the largest party with 30 seats but it does not have the required figure of 61 seats for the majority to form the government out of the total 120 seats in the Israeli Parliament.
Israel has held elections four times in the last two years but so far no party has got a clear majority. This time the turnout was 4.3 percent less than the last election in March. Some observers believe that people are tired of elections. Exit Paul, who appeared on Israel’s major TV channels shortly after the vote ended on Tuesday, indicated that Netanyahu and his opponents would not get enough seats to form the government.
Political analysts, however, believe that the right-wing Yamina Party, led by Netanyahu’s old ally, may join hands again. However, during the election campaign, they had vehemently opposed each other. Netanyahu, while addressing supporters early Wednesday, claimed to have won “a big victory” but did not declare victory. However, he called for the country to be saved from another election.
He said, “We should not under any circumstances lead Israel to the elections for the fifth time.” We should form a stable government now. ” If Yemina’s party also joins the Netanyahu-led coalition government, it now has 59 seats, two short of the majority. Netanyahu has been in power since 2009.
