Five Lessons From Israel’s Election
Benjamin Netanyahu may be deeply immersed in a trial on multiple corruption charges.
He may have dragged Israelis to four elections in two years. And he may have held his political rivals – and the country – to ransom by refusing to pass a budget.
But despite all that, this election result shows beyond doubt that no party leader is even close to Netanyahu in winning the confidence of Israelis.
With most votes counted, his Likud party has 30 seats – nearly twice the number of its nearest rival, Yesh Atid, with 17 mandates. The rest of the pack – a further 11 parties – are jostling far behind, most of them at between six and eight seats each.
This election marks a historic victory for what in Israel is termed “the right” but that comprises religious fundamentalist and far-right parties.