Yair Lapid concedes victory to Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s election

Yair Lapid congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his victory in Israel’s election on Tuesday He also informed him that he had accepted his electoral defeat and had begun preparations for a transfer of command.

“Prime Minister Lapid congratulated Opposition Leader Netanyahu on his election victory and stated that He has instructed his entire office to prepare an orderly handover.According to a statement issued by the President’s Office.

“The State of Israel is above any political concept. For the sake of Israel and the State of Israel, I wish Netanyahu victory,” Lapid said.

With this message, the Prime Minister is admitting his party’s defeat. Yesh Additand the bloc of parties he leads against the party commanded by Netanyahu.

With 98% of votes counted, the constituency supporting the former president has 64 representatives out of a total of 120.

Netanyahu’s Likud, which won the election with 31 seats, will form a government with the far-right. The Religious Zionist Party (14 seats) and the ultra-Orthodox Shas (11 seats) and United Torah Judaism (8 seats).

Israeli media, citing political sources, said the new government could be shut down by the middle of the month. Previous coalitions in recent years have had narrow parliamentary majorities, making them vulnerable to no-confidence motions.

Although these numbers have not yet been finalized and the final result will only be announced tomorrow, it was confirmed this Thursday that the left-wing Meretz party is unlikely to reach the number of votes needed to enter parliament, for which significant changes are ruled out. Allotment of seats.

President of Meretz, Jehovah GallonToday he said his party’s results were “a disaster for the country” and warned of a racist element to the coalition Netanyahu is forming.

Another organization that has already officially left parliament is the Arab nationalist party Balad.

After the final vote is submitted, the President of the country, Isaac HerzogIn the next few days, he will receive the leaders of parties with parliamentary representation to nominate a candidate for the post of prime minister.

Netanyahu is expected to easily achieve the minimum majority of 61 nominations and get the mandate to form a government.

In that case, formal negotiations with its potential coalition partners will begin, particularly regarding the allocation of ministerial portfolios ahead of the announcement of a new administration.

This way, after five elections in four years, Israel will emerge from the political deadlock it has been facing since 2018 and Netanyahu will return to power after a year as opposition leader.

With information from EFE

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