JERUSALEM (AP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival conceded defeat Wednesday, promising to wage a robust battle from the opposition after the ruling Likud party and its nationalist allies won a solid majority in parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu appeared poised for a historic fifth term as prime minister with nearly all the ballots counted from Tuesday’s vote. Official final results were expected Thursday.
With 97.4% of the vote counted, Netanyahu’s Likud and the rival Blue and White were deadlocked with a projected 35 seats apiece in the 120-seat parliament. But Likud and its traditional political allies were in command of a 65-55 majority in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
A couple of small parties were still teetering on the electoral threshold and fighting for survival, so the final makeup of the next parliament could still change slightly.
Blue and White, led by former military chief of staff Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, a former Netanyahu Cabinet minister, got about 26% of the vote – a shade less than Netanyahu’s Likud.