Netanyahu short of majority, fourth election looms

JERUSALEM - Israel appeared headed into another political stalemate on Wednesday after nearly-complete results indicated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had failed to secure a clear majority for a right-wing bloc in parliament, despite his claim of victory.

Netanyahu, set to go on trial on corruption charges in two weeks, claimed victory after exit polls projected his Likud party as the largest faction in parliament in Monday's election. But late fluctuations in the official returns signaled that Israel's year-long political deadlock is far from over.

With 99% of votes counted, Netanyahu's conservative Likud party was seen taking 35 of parliament's 120 seats, down from 36 intially projected after Monday's election. His centrist challenger, Benny Gantz, was seen holding steady at 32 seats for his Blue and White party. The Joint List, an umbrella group of Arab-led parties, finished third with 15 seats, an all-time high for them.

The final results were expected to be released later Wednesday. These were delayed because of new verification procedures and complications arising from tallying some 4,000 ballots cast by Israelis confined to home quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus.

The electoral results also came as Palestinians launched protests in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli bulldozers began clearing land in what villagers fear is an attempt to confiscate it for future Jewish settlements. Victory for Netanyahu in the elections would pave the way for the veteran Israeli leader to make good on his pledge to annex settlements in the West Bank under US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

Netanyahu's relationship with Trump, and the prospect of seizing Palestinian territory with US support, was a major pitch of Netanyahu's right-wing bloc to Israeli voters, with Jewish settlers being a key voter base for the Likud.

Ideological differences

Israeli premiers generally need a coalition commanding 61 seats for their governments to survive. Wednesday's initial tally suggested that, with like-minded parties, a Netanyahu coalition could now expect to garner only 58.

The four-term leader has been hamstrung by corruption cases in which he denies wrongdoing. Gantz has cited Netanyahu's unprecedented indictment in refusing to join him in a coalition.

Yet Gantz, a former general who leads the centrist Blue and White party, seemed no closer to clinching a coalition, given ideological differences in a camp of Netanyahu-naysayers. They include the predominantly Arab Joint List, which represents Israel's 21% Palestinian minority, and the secular nationalist faction led by Avigdor Lieberman, who has ruled out any alliance with Arab politicians.

Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh has announced a series of conditions for him to back Gantz as an alternative candidate and made it clear that aligning with Lieberman was out of the question.

“The Joint List won't allow the racist Avigdor Lieberman to become a minister,” he told Israel's Army Radio. That could spell further deadlock and another snap election to follow Monday's vote, which was Israel's third in a year.

However, officials close to the prime minister have indicated they are seeking to poach defectors from the opposing camp in return for plum political postings. All of the potential defectors have denied they would make such a dramatic step.

Israel's Palestinian minority largely identifies with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, being opposed to the Netanyahu government's uplifting of the Jewish settler movement.

As poll results filtered through, Palestinian villagers from Qusra challenged troops guarding Israeli bulldozers as they worked to clear Palestinian land, in a field close to the Migdalim settlement in the northern West Bank.

Qusra protesters said Israel had stopped Palestinians using or farming the lands in question since the 1990s, and now they feared settlers would seize them for their own use.

"I came here because this is my land, and I want to die on my land but they are not letting me come near it," said Joudat Odeh, from Qusra.

"They are happy at the victory of Netanyahu," said Odeh, 70. "They are coming to control this land and we are helpless."

In another nearby village, Beita, residents protested over several days, planting a Palestinian flag and erecting a tent on the hilltop of al-Arma to defend it against settlers from Itamar settlement, near the city of Nablus. Some demonstrators hurled rocks at Israeli troops.

'Fake news'

Despite Netanyahu's claims of victory on Tuesday, some Israeli commentators were quick to ridicule his claimed electoral success as "fake news".

"Most of Israel's citizens said unequivocally: Just not Bibi," tweeted Attila Somfalvi, anchor for Ynet TV, using Netanyahu's nickname. "That raises the danger that Netanyahu will again try to drag the countries to elections."

Netanyahu has faced calls, including from within Likud, to step aside so he can defend himself in a corruption trial that begins on March 17. He refuses, and is under no legal obligation to go.

Israeli media said Blue and White might table legislation that would bar a prime minister under indictment from forming the next government. Asked about the reports, a Blue and White spokeswoman said: "All options are currently on the table."

The Joint List said it was cooperating with Blue and White - an apparent confirmation that the disqualification initiative was under way.

Defence Minister Naftali Bennett, one of Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition partners, described the reported initiative as "a radical, anti-democratic move".

"The right absolutely opposes this move and we will fight it with all our might," Bennett said on Twitter.

Netanyahu will now be eager to somehow form a government before his trial begins. He has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes for his actions in a series of scandals that included accepting lavish gifts from wealthy friends, and allegedly offering favors to media moguls in exchange for positive press coverage. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and accused the media, police and prosecutors of orchestrating a witch-hunt aimed at ousting him against the will of the people.

Netanyahu is expected to use his position to lash out at his prosecutors and rally public support. If he forms a new government, he might also seek ways to delay or derail the proceedings.