Benjamin Netanyahu Poised To Serve Fifth Term As Israel’s Prime Minister

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to his supporters after polls for Israel’s general elections closed in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to his supporters after polls for Israel's general elections closed in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Ariel Schalit / AP Photo
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to his supporters after polls for Israel’s general elections closed in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to his supporters after polls for Israel's general elections closed in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Ariel Schalit / AP Photo

Benjamin Netanyahu Poised To Serve Fifth Term As Israel’s Prime Minister

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As results from Tuesday’s Israeli elections roll in, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party appears positioned to win a fourth consecutive term. Once ballots are fully counted, President Reuven Rivlin will ask the party leader he believes has the best chance of pulling together a parliamentary majority to begin forming a coalition. The Blue and White alliance, of which Netanyahu’s main rival, Benny Gantz, is a member, will likely win a similar number of parliamentary seats as Likud. With support from a bloc of other right-wing parties, the Likud party is better positioned to form a governing coalition, however. Notably, the Likud party also admitted to illegally placing 1,2000 hidden cameras at polling stations in Arab areas on Tuesday. Nathan Guttman, a Washington-based journalist, joins Worldview to provide analysis of the election’s outcomes and what they mean for Middle East peace and U.S.-Israel relations. Guttman previously worked as a Washington correspondent for The Forward, Jerusalem Post and Haaretz.