Exit polls on Tuesday night suggested that Israel’s divisive and hard-fought election campaign had resulted in a virtual tie between the two main competitors. That could open the way for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in office, and deal a potentially serious blow to hopes for Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu, in a tweet, declared a “great victory,” and his headquarters erupted in celebration. But backers of his main opponent, Isaac Herzog, refused to concede.
“What I see is a tie – the game isn’t over,” said Shelly Yachimovich, a senior member of Herzog’s Zionist Union.
The exit polls, released moments after balloting ended, indicated that Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party and the center-left Zionist Union each took around 27 seats in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset. One TV channel said its poll indicated 28 seats for Likud.
The results, if borne out, would represent an enormous relief for the prime minister’s camp, after opinion polls last week suggested that Herzog’s party had pulled ahead by up to five seats. Netanyahu in recent days had made a frantic push to retain support from conservative and nationalist voters amid signs that the electorate had tired of him.
Even so, the early picture pointed to a highly fragmented political scene that will make it difficult for any leader to assemble a governing coalition, or to remain in power for long.
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-election-20150317-story.html#page=1
