Israel: Netanyahu wins the elections and Lapid surprises in second position

January 23, 2013
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly won Tuesday’s election, forcing him to rely on the centre, the unexpected winner of this election.

With 99.5% of votes counted, the right wing parties and the center-left tied Israeli legislative elections, according to results released Wednesday by the Central Electoral Commission.

The centrist party Yesh Atid (There is future), created less than a year ago, became a surprise the second force in the country and Netanyahu will have to take into account its leader, former journalist Yair Lapid, to form a government.

With these results, the nationalist right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu, the outgoing prime minister, and the center-left, centrist party including Yesh Atid, obtained 60 seats each.

Beitenu Likud coalition formed by Netanyahu’s Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu party led by his former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman gets 31 seats, 11 fewer than the previous elections.

Meanwhile Yesh Atid becomes the second formation of the country with 19 of the 120 members of parliament, ahead of the Labour Party, which won 15 seats.