Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to return to power as exit polls show him leading in numbers amid the country's elections.
If the polling trends continue, Netanyahu will reclaim power and preside over one of the most right-wing governments in the country's history despite facing trial on corruption charges. The official's right-wing alliance may have won a narrow lead in Israel's fifth election in less than four years.
Netanyahu's Expected Return to Power
The result of exit polls on Tuesday night suggests that he has a chance of returning to his post and leading one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history once more. Three broadcasters' exit polls indicated that Netanyahu's party, Likud, would come in first and noted that his right-wing bloc was expected to form a narrow majority in Parliament.
Despite the results, Israel's exit polls have already been wrong before, particularly in tight races, and they exaggerated Netanyahu's eventual tally in the last election, which was held in March 2021. More accurate results may not come out until Wednesday morning and final results will be announced until Friday, as per the New York Times.
Furthermore, party leaders will not be asked to nominate a prime minister they support before next week. The right-wing bloc includes a far-right alliance that aims to upend the country's judicial system, end Palestinian autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank, and legalize a form of corruption that Netanyahu is accused of committing.
Netanyahu's alliance also includes two ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose the secularization of Israeli public life. If the former prime minister etches out a win, it would bring down the final curtain on one of Israel's most unusual governments in history, which is Prime Minister Yair Lapid's diverse eight-party alliance.
According to Aljazeera, while outgoing Lapid's centrist bloc, which united political opponents from the right, left, and center, and included the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition, was expected to get 54-55 seats.
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Far-Right Coalition
On the other hand, the anti-democratic, anti-liberal, anti-Palestinian, homophobic "Religious Zionism" slate, whose leaders advocated expelling people deemed "disloyal," was set to become Netanyahu's main partner. The party is already projected to win 14 seats, which is more than double the six in the last elections.
One individual, 53-year-old Anwar Ghazal, said that the extremism in Israel was continuing to increase. He noted that it was dangerous for the Arabs and noted that it was what they tried to explain in all of their campaignings.
Another person, 30-year-old Ihab Abukrubeia, said that they expected this kind of situation to engulf Israel. He thinks that the majority of the Jews in the country are extremist right-wing individuals, which results in Likud getting so many seats.
During the last election in 2021, Netanyahu was also projected to win a majority that would allow him to form a coalition but he fell short. Israel's political system has been in gridlock since 2019 and neither the former prime minister nor his opponents have come close to finishing a four-year term, the Washington Post reported.
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