ISRAEL-ELECTION/NEWSPAPERS Israeli newspaper headline: draw between Netanyahu and Herzog

Record ID: 399326

  • Title: ISRAEL-ELECTION/NEWSPAPERS Israeli newspaper headline: draw between Netanyahu and Herzog
  • Date: 18th March 2015
  • Summary: NEAR NETANYA, ISRAEL (MARCH 18, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HAARETZ NEWSPAPER BEING PRINTED AT FACTORY VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER COPIED IN FACTORY FRONT PAGE SHOWING PICTURES OF ZIONIST UNION CHIEF ISAAC HERZOG AND CO-LEADER TZIPI LIVNI AND ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, HEADLINE READING: "Draw between Netanyahu and Herzog; Rivlin: a unity government is needed". MORE
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAO3WWCTW60H4MPHO3OATUVMM5
  • Story Text: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the center-left Zionist Union Isaac Herzog are tied, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper printed early Wednesday (March 18).
    Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift in which he abandoned a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
    Difficult coalition talks still lie ahead. Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's chief opponent and head of the center-left Zionist Union, said "everything is still open" and that he already had spoken to party leaders about forming a government.
    But after days in which Zionist Union appeared poised to defeat Netanyahu's Likud, the exit polls late on Tuesday (March 17) put the two parties in a dead heat. Netanyahu could have the easier path to forming a cabinet, which would put him on course to becoming Israel's longest serving leader.
    He pulled off the feat with a pitch for ultranationalist votes in the final days of the hard-fought campaign, using tactics that could deepen a feud with the White House, at least as long as President Barack Obama remains in office.
    Netanyahu has focused on the threat from Iran's nuclear program and militant Islam. But many Israelis had said they were tiring of the message, and the center-left campaigned on social and economic issues, surging in polls as election day neared.
    An exit poll for Channel 2 TV gave Likud 28 seats and Zionist Union 27 in the 120-member parliament. Channel 10, revising its survey several hours after voting ended, put that margin at 27 seats for Likud to 26 for Zionist Union. Channel 1 had both parties tied at 27.
    Opinion polls in the run-up to the ballot had shown Zionist Union with a three- to four-seat advantage over Likud, suggesting the public had warmed to Herzog, who won over voters with flashes of wit after enduring being lampooned for his short stature and reedy voice.
    Final results are not expected until early on Wednesday.
    A new centrist party led by former communications minister Moshe Kahlon could be the kingmaker in coalition talks. After the balloting ended, he said he did not rule out a partnership with either Likud or Zionist Union.
    The exit polls gave right-wing and religious parties - Netanyahu's traditional partners - about 54 seats, and left-leaning factions, 43 - both figures still short of a governing majority in the 120 seat parliament.
    Turnout was around 72 percent, higher than the last election in 2013.
    No party has ever won an outright majority in Israel's 67-year history, and it may be weeks before the country has a new government. Netanyahu will remain prime minister until a new administration is sworn in.
    After the final results are in, and following consultations with political parties, it will be up to President Reuven Rivlin to name the candidate he deems best placed to try to form a coalition. The nominee will have up to 42 days to do so.
    Rivlin has called for national unity, signaling he favors a government that would pair both Likud and Zionist Union.
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