After a heated campaign that saw the centrist Blue and White party candidate and political newcomer, Benny Gatz, go toe-to-toe against incumbent Prime Minister and right-wing candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu, the people of Israel have chosen the current Prime Minister, despite the multitude of corruption charges against him.
The collation of the votes cast for the country’s 21st parliament, also known as the Knesset, revealed that Israeli electorates have voted to support Netanyahu’s record fifth term bid.
The tally showed while both parties tied with 27% of the national vote, the right-wing religious bloc, which includes Netanyahu’s Likud, recorded 53% of the votes collated, leaving Gantz’ centre-left party with 47% of the votes. This would give the rightists probably 64 seats in the 120-member parliament, enough to influence President Reuven Rivlin’s decision when selecting which party leader gets to lead the affairs of the State.
While Benjamin Netanyahu’s win might come as a shock to many, despite the close margin between him and the opposition, a few signs have pointed towards his win. Despite his current unpopularity that stemmed from his impending indictment, the Prime Minister, who now surpasses David Ben Gurion as Israel’s the longest serving Prime Minister, definitely had some things working in his favour.
Here are three major factors that contributed to the Israeli Prime Minister’s win:
Popularity among other World Leaders
Even though his country might not be big fans right now with about 47% of the electorates wanting him gone, Netanyahu is still a member of the international men’s club, with America’s Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin by his side.
With the exit of Barack Obama in 2017, Netanyahu formed an alliance with President Donald Trump and this seems to have favoured him so far.
Trump has facilitated the move of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, withdrawn nuclear agreements with Iran, recognized Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights and, most recently, designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
On his own part, Putin seems to have pushed through for the right-wing candidate the same way he did for his American counterpart, Donald Trump. In a meeting with Putin, the Israeli prime minister thanked him for his support of Israel in operating against Iranian targets in Syria.
Promise on West Bank
Netanyahu made a bold move over the weekend while trying to drum up support before the elections by declaring his intention to extend the country’s sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he wins his reelection bid.
The section of land has been a bone of contention between Israel and Palestine for years, with Palestinian’s often referring to it as “illegally occupied land,” according to Vox.
Netanyahu’s intention to annex parts of the region seems to have been able to secure some last-minute support, going into the elections on Wednesday.
Security Record
While Benny Gantz, who once served as the country’s Army Chief of Staff, presented himself as an alternative to Netanyahu, his campaign was not strong enough to convince Israel that he could outdo the past work of its current Prime Minister.
In his first term as Prime Minister, Netanyahu rejected a deal with Palestine which has been widely regarded as a favourable move today, despite heavy criticism when it was made. He also warned against withdrawing Israeli troops from Gaza in 2005, resisted pressure from Obama’s administration with regards to concessions to Palestine and also recognized Iran as a world threat long before other leaders.
