Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won another shot at leading the country after his right-wing bloc secured a majority of the seats in Parliament. This was Israel's fifth election in four years.
Netanyahu's bloc won 64 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's Parliament. His party, Likud, became the largest, garnering 32 seats, reports The Wall Street Journal. Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid's centrist party Atid won 24 seats, making it the second largest. Following his victory, Netanyahu said, "Together, we brought about a huge victory for the State of Israel."
This election was also a victory for Israel's far right. Netanyahu got support from far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who also heads a national religious alliance, which won 14 seats in the Knesset and became the third-largest party. Ben-Gvir is an ultranationalist and has opposed Palestinian autonomy, reports The New York Times. "The time has come for us to be the landlords of our country," he said in a speech following the election.
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Lapid ousted Netanyahu last year by creating an unprecedented coalition and gaining a Parliamentary majority. The coalition shortly fell apart, CNN reports. He put together a diverse government with parties on both the right and left along with the first-ever independent Arab party to join a governing coalition.
Lapid conceded to Netanyahu saying, "I wish Netanyahu success, for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel."
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