If you cannot see this email properly, please click here | |
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com ------------------------------------------------ Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday Wednesday, Sep. 18 '19, י"ח באלול תשע"ט HEADLINES: 1. NETANYAHU, GANTZ DEADLOCKED AFTER REPEAT ELECTION 2. HOW DID ISRAEL'S BIG CITIES VOTE? 3. NETANYAHU: JOINT ARAB LIST WILL WIN 15 SEATS 4. LIVE UPDATES: OFFICIAL RESULTS IN ELECTION TO THE 22ND KNESSET 5. IRAN: ATTACK ON SAUDI OIL FACILITIES WAS 'A WARNING' 6. 'ISRAEL NEEDS A BROAD, STRONG, ZIONIST GOVERNMENT' 7. FIRST EXIT POLLS: STALEMATE, BLUE AND WHITE LARGEST PARTY 8. 'THE ERA OF NETANYAHU IS OVER' 1. NETANYAHU, GANTZ DEADLOCKED AFTER REPEAT ELECTION by David Rosenberg Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his main challenger, Blue and White chief Benny Gantz, remain deadlocked Wednesday after Tuesday’s Knesset election, raising the possibility of a unity government or even the possibility of a third general election. With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, Blue and White holds a narrow lead over the Likud, with 25.66% of the vote to 25.03% for the Likud. Preliminary results now show Blue and White with 32 seats to 31 for the Likud. Blue and White currently leads the Likud by roughly 25,000 votes, with less than half a million votes left to count. 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269088 The predominantly Arab Joint List party has 13 seats, according to the current results, while Shas is on track to receive nine seats, and United Torah Judaism to receive eight. The right-wing Yamina party is currently projected to win seven seats, compared to six for the Labor-Gesher alliance, and five for the Democratic Union, an alliance of the far-left Meretz party with Ehud Barak’s new Israel Democratic Party. Otzma Yehudit, which some polls showed entering the Knesset, is far from the 3.25% needed to win representation in the legislature, with less than 2% of the vote according to the latest count, which showed Otzma with less than 75,000 votes. The right-wing – religious bloc – including the Likud, Yamina, UTJ, and Shas – is currently projected to win 55 seats, down from 60 in the April election. By contrast, the left-wing bloc, including the Joint Arab List, is currently projected to win 56 seats. Neither the right-wing nor the left-wing bloc is expected to secure the 61 seats necessary for an outright majority. Yisrael Beytenu, which is expected to win nine seats, is not included in either bloc, and has called for a national unity government. 2. HOW DID ISRAEL'S BIG CITIES VOTE? by Arutz Sheva Staff The Central Elections Committee on Wednesday morning published the results of the elections, after 61.15% of possible votes were counted. According to the Knesset's official election results site, residents of Tel Aviv, 42.89% of voted mainly for the Blue and White party, with just 19.16% going to Likud, while in neighboring Petah Tikva, 30.37% went to the Likud, and 27.79% went to Blue and White. In Holon, 36.9% of voters supported Likud, and 30.41% supported Blue and White. In Jerusalem on the other hand, 24.9% of votes went to the Ashkenazic-haredi UTJ party, and 22.99% went to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud. There, Blue and White scored just 11.78% of votes. Similarly, in haredi Bnei Brak, 61.7% of votes went to UTJ, 27.97% went to Sephardic-haredi Shas, and just 4.67% went to Likud. Blue and White trailed several places behind, with 1.29% of votes. Haifa, meanwhile saw 32.95% support for Blue and White, and 23.72% support for Likud. In the central city of Rishon Lezion, 36.63% voted for Blue and White, while 34.01% voted Likud. In Netanya, 35.96% of votes went to the Likud, with just 24.16% supporting Blue and White. Southern Be'er Sheva, often called the "capital of the Negev," saw 43.39% support for the Likud, and 18.81% support for Blue and White. In the southern coastal city of Ashdod, 31.22% of votes went to Likud, with Yisrael Beytenu the runner-up at 17.66% and Blue and White following close behind with 16.29%. 3. NETANYAHU: JOINT ARAB LIST WILL WIN 15 SEATS by Arutz Sheva Staff A Likud spokesperson published details from a meeting hosted by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at his residence. "Prime Minister Netanyahu expects the Joint Arab List to win 15 Knesset seats," the spokesperson said. The Joint Arab List has been polling between 10 and 12 Knesset seats. However, Channel 13 reported "surprisingly high levels of turnout in the Arab sector, as well as "long lines at the voting stations since the early morning, and a high level of interest." Likud, meanwhile, is expected to be neck-and-neck with the center-left Blue and White party, with neither having the necessary 61-MK majority to form a coalition without the right-turned-left Yisrael Beytenu party. 4. LIVE UPDATES: OFFICIAL RESULTS IN ELECTION TO THE 22ND KNESSET by Arutz Sheva Staff According to an informal count of 90% of the votes in Tuesday’s elections for the 22nd Knesset, Blue and White has a slight advantage over the Likud. Blue and White has 33 seats, Likud - 32, Joint List - 11, Shas 9, Yisrael Beytenu - 9, United Torah Judaism - 8, Yamina - 7, Labor-Gesher - 6 and the Democratic Union has 5 seats. The right-wing bloc has 56 seats and the center-left has 55. Both these numbers do not include Yisrael Beytenu’s 9. The voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was 69.4 percent, 1.5 percent higher than the voter turnout at the end of the previous election in April of 2019. Exit polls published on Tuesday night showed that Blue and White was the largest party in the Knesset and is followed by the Likud, but it does not appear that either party has enough seats to form a coalition. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party will probably be the deciding factor in determining who will head Israel’s next government – Binyamin Netanyahu or Benny Gantz. 5. IRAN: ATTACK ON SAUDI OIL FACILITIES WAS 'A WARNING' by David Rosenberg A recent attack by Iranian-backed forces in Yemen on a Saudi oil facility should be viewed as a “warning” to Saudi Arabia to halt its campaign against pro-Tehran Houthi rebels in Yemen, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday. President Rouhani denied that Iran was behind the attack, adding that Iran was not interested in a regional conflict. “We don’t want conflict in the region,” said Rouhani. “Who started the conflict?” The Iranian leader blamed the US, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and the Saudi government for rising tensions in the Middle East. Despite Rouhani’s denial, the Saudi ambassador to the UK said Wednesday that Iran was ‘almost certainly’ behind the weekend attacks on Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. “Almost certainly it’s Iranian-backed,” Prince Khalid bin Bander bin Sultan Al Saud told the BBC. “We’re trying not to react too quickly because the last thing we need is more conflict in the region.” “We’re investigating the issue. We’re working with our partners in the United States, the UN, the UK, and anyone else who wants to get involved, to help us resolve what happened, figure out what happened, where they came from, the attack.” Saudi Arabia promised Wednesday to release evidence linking Iran to the attack. The US has also accused Iran for the attack, and now believes that the assault was launched from southwestern Iran. Houthi rebels in Yemen had previously claimed responsibility for the attack. Iran is widely believed to be backing the Houthi forces, though Tehran has denied this. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition in support of the Yemeni government against the Houthis. 6. 'ISRAEL NEEDS A BROAD, STRONG, ZIONIST GOVERNMENT' by Yoni Kempinski 📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269071 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday night at the Likud election headquarters at Tel Aviv Expo and called on those present to wait for the true results of the elections to the 22nd Knesset. Netanyahu, whose voice was hoarse, said, “I’d rather lose my voice than lose the country.” "At this time, the State of Israel needs a Zionist government," Netanyahu declared. "There will not be and cannot be a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties that deny the very existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Parties that glorify and praise the bloodthirsty terrorists who murder our soldiers, our citizens.” "I spoke this evening with all the Likud’s partners in the right-wing camp. All of them expressed an unequivocal commitment to going together,” he added. "In the coming days, we will enter into negotiations to establish a strong Zionist government and to prevent a dangerous anti-Zionist government," the Prime Minister noted. Netanyahu thanked his family, the Likud members and party activists. "I came here tonight with my wife Sara to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We love you, we believe in you! We have all gone through an unbelievably difficult election campaign, and I would like to first thank the Likud ministers, the Likud Knesset members, we acted shoulder to shoulder, stood together in unity in the election campaign and will stand together in the face of the tasks ahead. For the Likud and for the State of Israel.” "We withstood the campaign that was so biased against us by the media, so unfair! But it did not deter us, it did not stop us, we acted together and brought about achievements that are unbelievable in the face of such unilateralism. And I want to thank you, you did it." Netanyahu noted that “one thing is clear - the State of Israel is at a historical point in time. We face tremendous opportunities and face great challenges. Security and political challenges, most notably the existential threat posed to Israel from Iran and its metastases and we are fighting them tirelessly and fearlessly! In recent years, we have brought defensive strength, economic prosperity and political prosperity that are unparalleled in Israeli history.” “We must ensure that these achievements, that we all worked hard to achieve, are maintained in the years to come. In the near future, my friend President Trump's ‘Deal of the Century’ will be presented and the way that negotiations with the President are handled will shape the future of the State of Israel for generations. At this time, for all these purposes, Israel needs a strong government, a stable government, a Zionist government! A government committed to Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people!” 7. FIRST EXIT POLLS: STALEMATE, BLUE AND WHITE LARGEST PARTY by Gary Willig The first exit polls were published shortly after polls closed at 10 PM Tuesday night. According to an exit poll published by Channel 12 News, the Blue and White party emerged as the largest party with 34 Knesset seats. The Likud party finished a close second with 33 seats. The Joint Arab List finished third with 11 seats. Yamina and Yisrael Beyteinu both received eight seats, as did haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism. Labor and the Democratic Union received five seats each. The Otzma Yehudit party failed to clear the electoral threshold. According to these initial results, the right-wing bloc received 57 seats without the Yisrael Beyteinu party, and the left-wing-Arab bloc received 55 seats. A Channel 13 exit poll showed the left overtaking the right with 58 seats compared to 54, while a Kan poll showed Blue and White tied with Likud at 32 seats apiece and the right ahead by two seats. All three polls show neither side able to form a coalition without Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beyteinu party. 8. 'THE ERA OF NETANYAHU IS OVER' by Hezki Baruch Tuesday’s Knesset election marked the ‘end of the era of Netanyahu’, Joint List party chairman MK Ayman Odeh declared shortly after the polls closed. With exit polls predicting the predominantly Arab party gaining one to three seats from the 10 seats its constituent factions won in the April election, Odeh celebrated both the higher turnout in the Arab sector, and the failure of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party to clear the threshold, according to all three major exit polls Tuesday night. “Once again, we are the third largest party in the Knesset, with 13 mandates,” said Odeh. “This dramatic change [comes from] a rise in voter turnout in the Arab sector. We are happy that Otzma Yehudit failed to cross the threshold.” Polls show a close race between incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the center-left Blue and White party, with the Likud trailing by a single seat in two of the three exit polls. “The era of Netanyahu is over,” said Odeh. “We’ve returned to being the third largest party in the Knesset. With our votes, we’ve prevented Netanyahu from establishing a government. That is something historic.” According to the Channel 13 exit poll, the Joint List is projected to win 13 seats. The Channel 12 poll, however, shows the Joint List with just 11 seats, while the Channel 11 poll projects the party will win 12 seats. | |
|
▼
No comments:
Post a Comment