Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid conceded defeat to Benjamin Netanyahu, putting Israel’s longest-serving prime minister back in power after just one year.
Lapid made his concession with 99% of the votes counted on Thursday, giving Netanyahu’s coalition a majority in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. In total, they are on course to secure 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, with Netanyahu’s Likud party winning 32. The newest coalition is the most right-wing and nationalist in the country’s history, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The State of Israel is above any political consideration,” Lapid said in his concession announcement, according to the Times of Israel. “I wish Netanyahu luck for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”
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He instructed the country’s Prime Minister’s Office to prepare for an orderly transfer of power.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid party is set to win 24 seats, while his coalition is set to win 51 in total, the Wall Street Journal reported. The remaining seats went to an alliance of communists and Palestinian nationalists, who have stated they won’t join any coalition.
Netanyahu was able to secure a stunning comeback by garnering support from Israel’s far-right, forming a conservative nationalist coalition against Lapid’s hodgepodge of anti-Netanyahu parties. The growing role of Arabs in Lapid’s government rallied conservative and nationalist Jewish forces in the country behind Netanyahu over fears that their growing role would jeopardize Israel’s Jewish identity.
Netanyahu’s comeback was also helped by rising tensions with the Palestinians this year. Attacks from Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces have resulted in the deaths of about 125 Palestinians and 25 Israelis and foreigners this year, according to NBC News. Tensions reached their greatest point over the summer, when war was narrowly avoided amid missile barrages targeting Israel and massive IDF airstrikes in the West Bank.
Netanyahu was also helped by the skyrocketing popularity of the controversial ultranationalist religious leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is a part of the new governing coalition, winning 14 seats. He is known for his extreme stance against Palestinians, being tried in 2007 for racist sentiment and supporting a terrorist group, according to Axios. During his victory speech on Tuesday, some of Ben-Gvir’s supporters in the crowd were heard chanting “death to the Arabs” and “death to the terrorists.” A member of his party was previously disqualified from the election due to racist statements against Arabs and Palestinians.
The United States previously expressed its willingness to accept gladly whatever governing coalition would take power in the country.
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“This will be up to the people of Israel to decide the configuration of their next government. No matter the shape of the Israeli coalition and government, our relationship will be strong and enduring,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said earlier this week, according to NBC News.
