(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out feelers to potential coalition partners after voters balked at trading him for a rival who promised to be more conciliatory to the Palestinians and less confrontational with the U.S.
Netanyahu unexpectedly swept aside main challenger Isaac Herzog in Israel’s election on Tuesday, and is well placed to form a fourth government in coalition with other parties that share his skepticism about peace talks. Early results show his Likud party may win 30 seats in the 120-member parliament, 12 more than it currently has and six ahead of Herzog’s Zionist Union. Final results are due on Thursday.
“A fourth-term Netanyahu government is a very serious message to the Palestinian Authority that we aren’t going back to the peace process,” said Yoram Meital, a political scientist at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership. It left the Israeli electorate as divided as ever between doves pushing for a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and security hawks who argue that in an increasingly violent Middle East, Israel must be wary of territorial concessions.
Only Option
Netanyahu’s opponents attacked him on the campaign trail for hurting relations with the U.S., Israel’s top ally, by rejecting its views on peace with the Palestinians and a nuclear accord with Iran. The premier argued he was the only leader strong enough to stand up for the national interest.
Herzog acknowledged defeat by telling party members in Tel Aviv that “what seems to be the only real option right now is to go into opposition,” in comments broadcast on Israel Radio.
After he receives the official results, President Reuven Rivlin will assign someone to form a government. He’ll begin consultations with party leaders to hear their views on Sunday, his office said late Wednesday in a statement.
Netanyahu has already served nine years in office, second only to the 13 served by the nation’s first premier, David Ben-Gurion, and vowed to form his next government swiftly. He spoke with the heads of all of his prospective partners and set a goal of completing the coalition-building process within three weeks, according to an e-mailed statement from Likud on Wednesday.
‘Everyday Reality’
“Our country’s everyday reality doesn’t give us the luxury for delay,” Netanyahu said.
Israel’s benchmark government bonds due in 2024 rose to the highest in more than two weeks, pushing the yield down four basis points to 1.6 percent at 5 p.m. in Tel Aviv. The benchmark stock index rose 1 percent to a record high. The shekel pared gains, falling 0.5 percent against the dollar.
The election outcome probably won’t affect Israel’s credit rating or its “solid growth prospects,” Standard & Poor’s said in a report on Wednesday.
Netanyahu defied the polls, which had suggested he would finish second behind Herzog, after repeatedly warning that support for any other party would put Israel’s fate in the hands of politicians soft on Israel’s security and backed by an Arab ticket.
A day before the election, he said he wouldn’t allow the establishment of a Palestinian state if re-elected. Throughout the campaign, he assailed U.S. efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, and deepened a rift with President Barack Obama by taking his criticism to Congress, where he delivered a speech that wasn’t coordinated with the American leader.
No Partner
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has congratulated Netanyahu, and President Barack Obama will do so in the coming days, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday. He said the election result won’t have “substantial impact” on the Iran talks, while the U.S. will “re-evaluate our approach” on Palestinian peace talks.
The U.S. was “deeply concerned by divisive rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens” during the campaign, Earnest said. Netanyahu warned on polling day that Arab Israelis were heading to the ballot boxes “in droves” and may affect the outcome.
The United Nations urged Israel to resume peacemaking with the Palestinians and halt settlement construction on land they claim for a state. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “firmly believes” a negotiated final accord that creates “a viable Palestinian state” living in peace and security alongside Israel “is also the best and only way forward for Israel to remain a democratic state,” spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York.
The factions that Netanyahu has contacted to join his new government include Jewish Home, a pro-settler party that opposes Palestinian statehood, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, which is skeptical of reaching a deal with the current Palestinian leadership. Both were part of his outgoing coalition.
A potential newcomer is Kulanu, a party that campaigned on improving living standards and is led by former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon. Others contacted include representatives of two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, according to Likud. If all of them team up with Netanyahu, he would have 67 seats, a majority of 14, according to the unofficial results.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the election results proved “we don’t have a peace partner.” He told Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinians would intensify diplomatic efforts to isolate Israel internationally, pursue war crimes charges against it, and end cooperation between their security forces.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net Amy Teibel
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