The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s developments as they unfold.
Netanyahu meets with Shas head Deri; right-wing parties to convene at Knesset
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Shas head Aryeh Deri, the Ynet news site reports.
According to the report, the two discussed the formation of the next government and different possible scenarios for its establishment in the 1.5 hour-long meeting at the prime minister’s residence.
The parties in the right-wing bloc are expected to meet at 3 p.m. at the Knesset.
The decision regarding who will be the next prime minister ultimately lies with President Reuven Rivlin, who will meet with the leaders of all the parties that cleared the electoral threshold, hear who each of them recommends as prime minister, and determine which candidate has the best chance of forming a coalition of at least 61 out of the 120 elected Knesset members.
With some 90 percent percent of ballots tallied, Likud holds 29.35% of the votes, equal to around 36 Knesset seats, which could represent the party’s strongest ever showing as Israelis look to end a deadlock that has left the country without a fully functioning government for over a year.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu appeared poised for a stunning electoral victory Tuesday morning, though questions remained over whether he had enough support to form a coalition, as votes were counted following Monday’s national vote.
The non-final tallies gave ultra-Orthodox Shas and UTJ ten and seven seats, respectively, while religious right-wing Yamina was sitting on about six seats, placing the right-wing bloc on 59 seats, two seats short of a 61-seat majority.
The numbers are likely to shift further as more votes are counted. There was a dispute over who would tally ballots cast by voters in quarantine at special voting booths set up to deal with the worldwide novel coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking in Tel Aviv early Tuesday morning, Netanyahu claimed a “massive victory.”
“We stood against vast forces. They already eulogized us. Our opponents said the Netanyahu era is over. But together we flipped the script. We turned lemons to lemonade.”
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz admitted to supporters early Tuesday that the party’s showing was disappointing, but refused to concede, saying he would wait for the final results.
The election marked another setback for the once mighty Labor party, which governed the country for its first three decades. The party’s alliance was projected to get just six or seven seats, making it one of the smallest factions in parliament.
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