With 99% of the votes counted from yesterday's election for the 19th Knesset, the left and right blocks are evenly matched at 60 seats each. The joint Likud-Beytnenu list, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Liberman, has plummeted from 42 seats in the outgoing Knesset to 31 seats. The big gainer is political newcomer Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party is on 19 seats. The voter turnout was 66.6%, 1.4% higher than in the 2009 election, but lower than seemed likely at the earlier stages of voting yesterday.
Labor, under Shelly Yachimovich, has 15 seats (compared with 13 in the outgoing Knesset); Habayit Hayehudi, under Naftali Bennett, 11 seats (7); Shas 11 seats (11); Meretz 6 seats (3); Tzipi Livni's Hatenuah 6 seats (-); United Torah Judaism 7 seats (5); Hadash 4 seats (4); Ra'am-Ta'al 5 seats (3); National Democratic Assembly 3 seats (4); Kadima 2 seats (28). Otzma L'Israel will apparently have no representative in the Knesset.
The votes that remain to be counted are mainly from soldiers.
Likud-Beytenu has suffered a downfall in today's election for the 19th Knesset. The exit polls by the main news channels - Channel 10, Channel 11, and Channel 22 indicate 31 seats for the joint list of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu, down from 42 seats in the outgoing 18th Knesset. The big winner, according to the exit polls, is Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party, which according to the exit polls has won 18-19 seats.
The exit polls give Labor, under Shelly Yachimovich, 17 seats (compared with 13 in the outgoing Knesset); Habayit Hayehudi, under Naftali Bennett, 12 seats (7); Shas 12 seats (11); Meretz 7 seats (3); Tzipi Livni's Hatenuah 7 seats (-); United Torah Judaism 6 seats (5); Hadash 4 seats (4); Ra'am-Ta'al 3 seats (3); National Democratic Assembly 0-2 seats (4). According to these polls, Kadima, which had 28 seats in the outgoing Knesset, and Otzma L'Israel will have no representative in the Knesset.
The Rafi Smith exit poll for "Globes" gives Likud Beytenu 29 seats; Yesh Atid 19; Labor 16; Habayit Hayehudi 13; Shas 10; Hatenuah 7; Meretz 6; United Torah Judaism 6; Hadash 4; Ra'am-Ta'al 4; National Democratic Assembly 3. The sampling error is 2.9%, and it should be stressed that the exit polls stopped sampling at 8 pm, while voting continued until 10 pm, so that there could certainly be differences of one or two seats for the larger parties in the final results. The votes of IDF soldiers could also make a difference they usually favor the right-wing parties.
One outcome that is clear is that about 60 current members of Knesset have lost their seats, which can be seen as a large vote of no confidence by the public in the Knesset.
The result probably means that Benjamin Netanyahu will remain prime minister: the right block has 61 seats to the center-left block's 59. He will however have his work cut out to form a stable coalition. Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich and Meretz leader Zahava Gal-On both spoke this evening of the possibility of a blocking group to prevent Netanyahu from retaining power.
According to interim estimates, the voter turnout was 66.6%, compared with 65.2% in 2009.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page after the announcement of the exit poll results: "I wish to thank the millions of Israeli citizens who exercised their democratic right today. According to the exit polls, it is clear that the citizens of Israel have decided that they want me to continue to serve as the prime minister of Israel, and I shall form as broad a government as possible. The emerging results represent a great opportunity for many changes for the benefit of all citizens of Israel. The election campaign is behind us, and we have many complex challenges ahead of us. This evening, I shall begin efforts to form the broadest government possible."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 22, 2013
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