Israel's election results , Exit Polls & more

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Israel's Channel 1 and Channel 10 both said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union secured 27 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset. Channel 2, meanwhile, have Likud 28 seats and the Zionist Union 27. The numbers were published by Haaretz. 

 

 

 

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After the exit polls released at 10 pm, the first official ballot results started coming in on Tuesday evening, with the Ben Shemen Youth Village with the first results.

There was a 100 percent voter turnout in the village, with 167 votes - 66 voted for Zionist Union, 41 for Kulanu, 26 for Yesh Atid, 15 for Likud and 15 for Meretz.

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4638109,00.html

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According to the The Jerusalem Post , 

 

President Reuven Rivlin will ask all of the party heads for recommendations on who they want to form the coalition.

With such close numbers between the top two parties, it will likely prove a difficult process to put together either a left- or right-wing coalition.

[Sevenseas]

edge of the seat drama

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21:04

Israeli media report that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, has refused to take calls from Mr Netanyahu and Mr Herzog.

 

 

21:12

Voter turnout was 71.8%, according to Israel's Central Elections Committee.

That is 4% more than in the 2013 election, and the highest turnout since 1999, according to Israel's embassy in the US.

 

 

 

 

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22:19

A new exit poll by Israel's Channel One TV network indicates the far-right Yachad party has enough votes to pass the threshold to get into parliament - at least 3.25%, or four seats. It could prove to be an important ally to Mr Netanyahu in the forming of a coalition.

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22:51

Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv. He will speak soon.

 

 

22:58

Mr Netanyahu thanks his supporters for their rapturous welcome. "Against all odds, we have achieved a big victory for the Likud party," he says. "We have achieved a big victory for our people."

 

 

 

23:00

Mr Netanyahu adds: "Now we have to form a strong and stable government that will take care of the welfare and security of all of Israel's citizens."

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Lyse Doucet

Chief international correspondent, Jerusalem

Posted at

It is a remarkable victory for Benjamin Netanyahu.

This election was widely described as a referendum on his last six years of rule, and in the last few days of the campaign, he was warning of, as he saw it, a great danger of him not returning.

His panic - the promises, the calls to voters to cast their ballots - went right up to the moment the polls closed.

So the fact his Likud party came out with either 27 or 28 seats is a remarkable comeback.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party has won a surprise victory in Israel's election.

 

In the end Israeli opinion polls told the wrong story, yet again. Benjamin Netanyahu scored a much bigger victory than the exit polls had suggested.

 

In the last few days of the campaign he demonstrated yet again why he is such a formidable politician.

The prime minister narrowed the gap with Mr Herzog's Zionist Union, and then overhauled it, by turning sharply towards the ultra-nationalist Israeli right.

 

The latest tally gives Likud 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, with Zionist Union on 24 seats.

 

(18 March 2015 Last updated at 09:23 9 Source BBC news)

[Guest shiloh357]

Netanyahu would be well advised to focus on improving the economic situation there in Israel.   This was not a landslide victory.  He will not last another election if he lets himself be a one issue leader.  He needs to focus on issues at home.  He needs to be able to multi-task and get things done at home while still dealing with the problem of Iran