Zoom News : Nov 02, 2022, 01:13 PM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to return to power. He said on Wednesday that his right-wing camp was on the cusp of a resounding electoral victory. Nearly 70% of the votes have been counted. Netanyahu's conservative Likud party is seeing strong signs of a majority in parliament for its potential religious allies. "We have won a huge vote of confidence from the people of Israel. We are on the verge of a huge victory," Netanyahu told supporters at his Likud party election headquarters.Netanyahu had to step down as prime minister about 18 months ago. This is the fifth time in less than four years that general elections are being held. The former PM said that he would wait for the official results.Netanyahu held the prime minister's chair for the longest time (12 years). His rule came to an end in June 2021. His government was overthrown by an unlikely coalition of centrist Lapid liberals, right-wing and Arab parties. Netanyahu counts on the support of Ben-Gwir and Bezel Smotrich.Earlier, post-poll polls by three major Israeli TV stations indicated that Netanyahu and his allies could capture a 61-seat majority in parliament, needed to form a new government. The polls also showed Religious Zionism of far-right legislator Itamar Ben-Gvir as the third largest party.Let us tell you that Arabs make up about 20 percent of the total population in Israel and have been a key factor in blocking Netanyahu's path in recent elections. But this time their votes got divided among the three parties and the electoral performance of these three parties is likely to be poor. This means that the votes given to these three parties worth billions went in vain.