Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday that he had won a “clear, decisive majority” among Jewish and Zionist voters, urging the formation of a powerful right-wing government. As updated election projections moved closer to his camp, Netanyahu also described a “historic” chance to work with President Donald Trump to neutralize the threat from Iran.
Speaking to enthusiastic Likud supporters in Jerusalem, Netanyahu claimed a mandate to lead after Israel’s first parliamentary election since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. The preliminary exit polls, however, showed that neither his alliance nor the opposition had reached the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu argued that the results reflected a firm preference among Jewish and Zionist voters for a right-wing coalition dedicated to maintaining Israel’s identity as a Jewish state.
“We must establish a strong national right-wing government,” he told the crowd. “That is what needs to be done.”
His speech followed a series of revised exit polls that narrowed or erased an initial lead for the Jewish-led opposition, whose senior figures had already announced that Netanyahu had been defeated.
Channel 12’s updated projection gave Netanyahu’s bloc 52 seats, compared with 50 for the Jewish-led opposition and 18 for Arab parties. Channel 13 and public broadcaster Kan each forecast a 51-51 split between the two main camps, leaving Arab parties with the other 18 seats.
The pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 estimated that his bloc could win 60 seats, while i24NEWS projected 55. Still, none of the five exit polls indicated that either side had secured the 61-seat threshold needed to govern alone.
All five broadcasters predicted that Likud would remain Israel’s largest party. Channels 11, 12, and 13 each placed it at 27 seats, ahead of former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, which was projected to take between 21 and 22 seats.
Netanyahu also criticized Israeli television networks, accusing them of intentionally minimizing Likud’s strength in pre-election surveys in an effort to suppress turnout among its supporters.
He labeled the broadcasters “propaganda channels” and alleged that their projections of only 18 or 19 Likud seats were knowingly false.
Earlier in the night, Eisenkot called on Netanyahu to acknowledge defeat and leave public life. “A worthy leader would accept the people’s vote of no confidence and announce his retirement from politics today,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose partnership with opposition leader Yair Lapid was projected to secure 12 seats, also claimed victory, saying, “Netanyahu has lost, and the October 7 government is going home.”
Netanyahu rejected the possibility of an alternative coalition that depended on Arab parties, whose combined strength was expected to reach roughly 18 seats after a significant increase in Arab voter participation.
“We must not, absolutely must not, endanger Israel by establishing a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties,” Netanyahu said, accusing those factions of opposing Israel’s existence and backing Hamas.
He also attacked the opposition’s proposed “alliance of those who serve,” accusing its leaders of double standards. Netanyahu said they were campaigning against military-service exemptions while simultaneously considering cooperation with Arab lawmakers whom he accused of condemning Israeli soldiers.
The prime minister urged Jewish and Zionist parties to set aside their differences and unite, saying their cooperation would be critical to Israel’s future.
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Despite Netanyahu’s confidence, the updated projections pointed to complicated coalition talks for both sides. Under Channel 12’s estimate, the opposition’s 50 seats plus the seven projected for Mansour Abbas’s Islamist Ra’am party would total 57, leaving the bloc four seats short of a Knesset majority.
Eisenkot could pursue backing from the Joint List or try to persuade parties currently aligned with Netanyahu to join a broader coalition. Netanyahu would also need additional partners unless the final count alters the balance. A unity government involving both rival camps remains another possibility, while failure to build a stable coalition could send Israel back to the polls.
The uncertain result also leaves unresolved the political future of Netanyahu, whom Trump publicly endorsed twice during the final week of the campaign and regarded as his preferred Israeli partner.
Trump’s endorsements came as Washington and Jerusalem considered their next steps toward Iran after months of military action that severely damaged Tehran’s military leadership and capabilities but failed to bring the confrontation to a definitive end.
Netanyahu portrayed the military campaigns undertaken during his government as having transformed the regional balance of power, citing the elimination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and the establishment of Israeli security zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
“Iran is weaker than ever, and Israel is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu declared.
Yet Netanyahu warned that Iran’s weakened position did not mean the threat to Israel had ended.
“This is not over as long as this fanatical regime exists,” he said, warning that Tehran would continue seeking Israel’s destruction.
Returning to Iran near the end of his speech, Netanyahu warned against allowing Israel’s political divisions to distract from what he described as a rare opportunity to eliminate the threat.
“Israel stands before a historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat from Iran once and for all,” Netanyahu declared.
“We must not, absolutely must not, allow any extraneous considerations to divert us from this sacred mission.”
His remarks came amid fresh reporting that Washington was preparing regional partners for the possibility of renewed military action against Iran following the U.S. midterm elections. The White House has not announced any such operation.
Despite his forceful address, Netanyahu acknowledged that the final outcome remains unsettled, with the nationwide count continuing and hundreds of thousands of special ballots, including votes cast by soldiers and reservists, still to be tallied. He said the final results are expected within the next 48 hours.
Once the results are finalized, President Isaac Herzog will consult the Knesset factions before assigning the task of forming a government to the lawmaker he considers best positioned to assemble a governing coalition.
Netanyahu will remain prime minister until a new government takes office, but his political future will depend not simply on Likud’s standing as Israel’s largest party, but on whether he can assemble the parliamentary support needed to govern.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for – News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.