Netanyahu bloc maintains edge over opposition in Israeli elections as vote count continues

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc of right-wing and religious parties held a lead over the opposition on Thursday morning, according to updated partial results from the Central Elections Committee.Netanyahu’s Likud party had 1,085,162 votes (20.65%) after 5,278,597 votes had been counted at 12,032 voting stations, the committee said in an update at 9:08 a.m.Netanyahu’s bloc, which also includes United Torah Judaism (293,990, 5.59%), Otzma Yehudit (292,985, 5.58%), Shas (277,689, 5.28%) and Religious Zionism-Zehut (250,996, 4.78%), had 2,200,822 votes, or 41.88%.Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar had 849,121 votes (16.16%).Together with B’Yachad (476,857, 9.07%), the Democrats (340,562, 6.48%) and Yisrael Beiteinu (311,728, 5.93%), his camp had 1,978,268 votes, or 37.64%.Based on the partial results, Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to secure 53 seats, compared with 48 for the opposition and 19 for the Arab parties, though the figures remained subject to change, according to Israeli media.Netanyahu early on Wednesday morning hailed the results of the vote, saying it showed beyond any doubt that the “Likud is the largest party in Israel.”“Do you remember how the propaganda channels manipulated public opinion? Likud—18 seats, 19 seats—they knew all along that it was a lie,” Netanyahu said, referring to surveys published by various Israeli news channels.“They tried to discourage you, simply discourage you, from going to the polls.

That’s what happened here.Well, the first thing that has become unequivocally clear is that Likud is the largest party in Israel.

There is no disputing that,” he continued.The second thing that has become clear, according to the premier, “is that the right-wing bloc has a clear, overwhelming majority among the Zionist public, among the Jewish public, and among all those who support a Jewish state.”Netanyahu added, “And that is why I said, and I say again, that we must establish a strong national right-win...