Jerusalem, 28 October (H.S.): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Likud party’s election headquarters on Wednesday, declaring that his party was Israel’s largest and calling for the formation of a strong, right-wing government. He also warned against forming a coalition dependent on Arab parties as vote counting continued following Tuesday’s Knesset election.

“Likud is Israel’s largest party,” Netanyahu said, claiming that the right-wing bloc enjoyed decisive support among Jewish and Zionist voters, as well as those who support the Jewish state.

According to reports by The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post, counting was under way for Tuesday’s election to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. As of 4.51 a.m., approximately 32.5 per cent of ballot boxes had been counted.

The Central Elections Committee said the partial results showed Netanyahu’s bloc securing 59 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc had won 46 seats. The committee cautioned that the figures were preliminary and could change as counting progressed.

At the Likud election headquarters, supporters of the prime minister were celebrating amid the emerging results. Addressing the gathering, Netanyahu highlighted what he described as Israel’s achievements in the wars fought since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.

“Iran is weaker than ever before, and Israel is stronger than ever before,” he said.

Netanyahu also spoke about his cooperation with US President Donald Trump, asserting that the two countries would work together to eliminate the Iranian threat permanently.

“We are still waiting for the actual results,” he said, acknowledging that the final electoral picture had yet to emerge.

The Israeli prime minister also criticised media outlets that had predicted a poor performance for Likud in the election. Reiterating his call for a right-wing government, he said Israel needed a strong, nationalist administration.

“That is why we need a right-wing, nationalist and strong government,” Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, updated exit polls released by the public broadcaster Kan and Channel 13 projected that Netanyahu’s bloc and the four-party opposition alliance could each secure 51 seats. Arab-led parties were projected to win a combined 18 seats.

Channel 12’s projections offered a slightly different picture, estimating 52 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 49 for the opposition alliance and 19 for Arab-led parties.

The differing projections underscored the uncertainty surrounding the election outcome. With the official count still under way, the final distribution of seats and the prospects for forming a governing coalition remained unclear.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar