Netanyahu pledges to form ‘as broad a government as possible’

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to form "as broad a government as possible" after his alliance won a narrow election victory, BBC News reports.

His right-wing Likud-Beitenu bloc will have 31 seats in parliament - a sharp drop from 42, exit polls suggest.

In a major surprise, the centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party came second with a predicted 18-19 seats, with Labour next on 17.

Analysts now predict weeks of political horse-trading to form a new cabinet. They say that there is even a possibility that Netanyahu's bloc would end up being in opposition.

Thirty-two parties were competing under a system of proportional representation for the 120-member Knesset. Parties must win at least 2% of the total vote to secure seats.

Full election results are expected on Wednesday, Jan 23, and the official ones will be announced on 30 January.

Speaking shortly after the voting ended on Tuesday, Netanyahu thanked the voters "for the opportunity to lead the state of Israel for the third time". In an apparent reference to his electoral setback, the Prime Minister promised to reach out to "many partners" to form a wide coalition.

"Tomorrow we start anew," he said.

He also said that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons remained the government's first challenge.

Other top priorities, he added, would be stabilizing the economy, striving for peace in the region, more egalitarian military and civilian services and reducing the cost of living.

Netanyahu is now widely expected to seek an alliance with a new nationalist party, Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home), which is projected to have 12 seats.

The party - led by Netanyahu's former chief-of-staff Naftali Bennett - has been recently challenging Likud-Beitenu's dominance on the right.

Analysts say the 18 or 19 seats predicted for Yesh Atid, headed by journalist-turned-politician Yair Lapid, is a stunning result for a newcomer.

Labor is expected to get 17 seats - up from just seven in the outgoing parliament.

Netanyahu, 63, has been in office since the 2009 election. He also served one term as prime minister between 1996 and 1999.