Netanyahu looks to form right-wing govt after victory

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to form a right-wing governing coalition after securing victory in a high-stakes Israeli election despite a strong challenge from a centrist alliance.

The results from Tuesday´s vote came despite corruption allegations against the 69-year-old premier and kept him on course to become Israel´s longest-serving prime minister later this year. The allegations are likely to play an important role in coalition negotiations as many analysts expect Netanyahu to demand pledges from potential partners to agree to remain in his government if he is indicted. Netanyahu will rely in part on politicians of the nationalist right opposed to a Palestinian state to put together his government. His current government is already seen as the most right-wing in Israel´s history, and his next is expected to be similar if not even further to the right.

Netanyahu himself, in a campaign pledge just three days before polling day, vowed to begin annexing settlements in the occupied West Bank. Applying sovereignty in the West Bank on a large scale could effectively end remaining hopes for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu´s pledge was widely seen as an appeal to the far right, and it appears to have worked. He boosted the number of parliamentary seats for his Likud, while smaller, far-right parties struggled. The Likud said late on Wednesday that Netanyahu “will form a right-wing government and he is already in advanced negotiations with the national camp partners.”

Netanyahu had no public events scheduled for Thursday apart from one that will likely give him another boost: Israel is expected to land its first spacecraft on the moon late Thursday, and Netanyahu was planning to watch from the control room. Throughout the campaign, Netanyahu highlighted his bond with US President Donald Trump, who has swung US policy sharply in Israel´s favour and openly backed the prime minister. On Wednesday, Trump said the incumbent´s election to a fifth term gives the White House´s long-awaited peace plan, expected to be released in the coming weeks, a “better chance”.