Following this week’s national election, which former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won, it appeared on Thursday that he would lead Israel’s most right-wing administration ever. The incumbent caretaker prime minister had conceded defeat.
In the end, it was clear that Netanyahu’s Likud Party and its allies in the ultranationalist and religious movements would hold a commanding majority in Israel’s Knesset.
The good performance indicated that the political impasse that has plagued Israel for the past three and a half years will soon come to an end. The incoming government’s program, which calls for a judicial system overhaul and a firm stance towards the Palestinians, threatens to further polarize an already profoundly divided society and risk alienating Israel’s closest allies overseas.
Just before the final results were announced, the interim prime minister, Yair Lapid, called Netanyahu to congratulate him and admit defeat, similar to what Goodluck Jonathan did to Buhari in 2015 in Nigeria. Lapid said that he had given his team the go-ahead to plan a smooth transfer of authority.
