Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's achievements should have given him an even greater victory, the initial exit polls still hand him and the Right the win. Political commentators who present the Right as a partner to the bloc headed by Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid and in partnership with Labor's Meirav Michaeli make no sense at all.
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The Left succeeded with its hateful and dogged campaign carried out through various channels to depress Likud voter turnout to some extent. That is in effect the only objective of the Left: to take control of the Right, depress the vote, and create another political imbroglio.
In fact, according to the exit polls, the imbroglio remains. Netanyahu and the Likud succeeded in creating confusion among Arab voters, and the result is a dramatic decrease in Arab voter turnout. This is reminiscent of what we saw in the elections for the premiership in 2001, when the Arab sector boycotted the election following the Second Intifada and the 13 Arab Israelis killed in riots in October 2000. They weren't willing to support then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
We don't yet know how much of the Arab public voted for Likud, but low voter turnout in the sector is likely due to the sense that this time around, they're irrelevant to the formation of a coalition government. Meaning no political side is looking for a party for coalition purposes.
The Right garnered 61 Knesset seats, and there's no way public opinion will allow Yamina's Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked any choice but to join a right-wing government headed by Netanyahu. There is a clear victor in this election, despite the fact that the political commentators in the TV studios would like you to believe otherwise.
Even with eight Knesset seats, Bennett can still negotiate. He will no doubt be tasked with heading one of the three most senior ministries – foreign, finance, or defense. The results of the election also ensure there will be no rotation agreement. New Hope's Gideon Sa'ar is the one that will need to seriously consider his political future. Should he choose to remain in the opposition, the end of his political career is near. Should he, despite his oath to boycott Netanyahu, join a right-wing coalition, Israel will have a broader, more balanced government than one comprising 61 lawmakers alone.
The year of the coronavirus had the potential to end Netanyahu's career, but the way in which he brought about at least a temporary halt to the pandemic, allowing Israelis a return to their normal lives, has saved many lives and his political career. This is the real story of this election. For the first time, a prime minister from the Likud has faced a critical and ongoing crisis and succeeded in overcoming it in a convincing manner. In past crises, such as the Lebanon War or the stock market collapse, the Likud party would pass the ball to the Knesset legislative committee's court. This time was different. If the election results look anything like they do in the exit polls, Netanyahu will form a coalition that will last for four years.
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