Benjamin Netanyahu Poised to Return as Prime Minister of Israel

Israel's ex-premier and leader of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters at campaign headquarters in Jerusalem, Israel on Nov. 2, 2022. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)

HAIFA, Israel—Former Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to return to power, claiming a “huge vote of confidence” from voters and declaring that his coalition of conservative parties is on the cusp of an election win.

“The people want a different way. They want security,” Netanyahu said. “They want power, not weakness. ... They want diplomatic wisdom, but with firmness.”

A unit that provides security for personnel and delegations increased security around Netanyahu on the night of Nov. 1.

Election Results Update

As of Nov. 1 at 10 p.m. local time when polls closed, 4,843,023 Israelis had voted, or 71.3 percent of eligible voters—the highest since the 2015 election.

In Israel, each voter needs to show their ID at the poll in order to vote.

The votes at the polls are hand counted, and there are no election machines at the polls.

As of Nov. 2 at 2:06 p.m. local time, 85.9 percent of the votes had been counted, and Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party and its allies were on pace to control a majority in Parliament.

The final results are expected to be received on Nov. 3, but only on Nov. 9 will the official results be submitted to President Isaac Herzog by the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Judge Yitzhak Amit.

“We are on the brink of a very big victory,” Netanyahu told supporters at his party election headquarters on the evening of Nov. 1, when Israel held its unprecedented fifth election in less than four years.

Recent elections have produced a deadlock between Netanyahu’s Likud and a number of opposing parties, with neither side able to hold a majority since 2019.

“I am pleased to see such strong voter turnout for the Knesset election. ... I look forward to continuing to work with the Israeli government on our shared interests and values,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides wrote on Twitter on Nov. 2.

A Profile of Netanyahu

After less than 18 months out of office, if preliminary counts hold, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, who has dominated the country’s politics for more than a decade, is set to return.

Netanyahu has pledged to build on the achievement of his last term in office, the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which opened the way for a possible normalization of relations with other Arab countries.

Netanyahu has been flanked on the right in previous governments and still managed to normalize ties with Arab states in the Persian Gulf and, as a free-market champion, oversee impressive economic growth.

But he was also more willing to publicly confront the United States over Iran’s nuclear program than the outgoing government.

On Nov. 2, perhaps trying to allay fears abroad, he voiced confidence that he would be able to build a responsible coalition that would avoid “unnecessary adventures” and “expand the circle of peace.”

Israel–Lebanon Maritime Agreement

Israel and Lebanon signed a maritime agreement on Oct. 27 that settles a sea border between the two states, which don’t have diplomatic relations and have officially been in a state of war for decades.

The deal, which has the potential to unlock additional natural gas production in the Mediterranean at a time of global energy flow disruptions, was finalized on Oct. 11, according to Israeli and Lebanese officials.

“[Prime Minister] Yair Lapid shamefully surrendered to [Hassan] Nasrallah’s threats,” Netanyahu said on Oct. 2 in a video on Facebook, referring to the prime minister agreeing to all of Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah’s demands for the Lebanon–Israel Maritime Agreement.

Nasrallah had made threats against Israeli gas infrastructure if Israel began to produce gas at the offshore Karish gas rig near the Israeli–Lebanon border and the agreement wasn’t finalized.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Nov. 2 that U.S. guarantees would protect a maritime border deal with Israel should Netanyahu win a majority in elections.

“We’re not afraid of a change in the authorities in Israel. Whether Netanyahu wins or someone else, no one can stand in the way of this [deal],” he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.