The morning after the second tough election in five months, politicians were trying to understand where they stood as preliminary results showed a near-tie between the Right and Left.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz spoke to reporters outside his home in Rosh Haayin Wednesday morning and said, "Now it's time to scramble. I wish Israel a good unity government that people want. We've been busy campaigning for a long time. We're waiting to see what the final results will be."
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Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem, on the other hand, expressed a belief that the Likud would establish a coalition with what he called its "natural" partners.
"Don't get confused by the results. The Likud is committed, before all, to a national government with its natural partners, the religious and haredi parties. We have loyalty to our partners, respect for our friends, ideology, and our joint path. We'll wait for the final results, and we will do our utmost to establish a national, Zionist right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu."
Democratic Union candidate Stav Shaffir, who resigned her Labor Knesset seat, said on Wednesday that she hoped the election marked the beginning of a change and that she believed the Democratic Union would play an important role in that change.
"Now we need the courage to establish a government with a broad camp that is willing to work toward peace. If that camp can join forces, we could truly see a new dawn here."
"When we founded the Democratic Union, we felt that the left-wing camp could be collapsing. What is clear is that by establishing the Democratic Union, we saved the left-wing camp. Israel is split. Our country is fighting for its life. The prime minister did everything possible to steal the election, but the Israeli public wants a country where there is equality and brotherhood. We need to keep fighting," Shaffir said.
Chairman of the Joint Arab List Ayman Odeh said that "Netanyahu's incitement brought out the Arab vote, and we will cause Netanyahu to be ousted from power. Abu Yair [the Arabic term for "father of Yair," a reference to Netanyahu's son], incitement comes at a price."
"We aren't in anyone's pocket. We're used to being in the opposition, so no one is more fitting than I am to serve as opposition leader. It's a very honorable position for us. I'm not disappointed with 12 seats, not at all. It's an excellent result for us," Odeh said.
