- Title: ISRAEL-ELECTION/NETANYAHU-HOLY SITE Netanyahu says prayers after claiming victory
- Date: 18th March 2015
- Summary: JERUSALEM (MARCH 18, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** WIDE OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU MAKING HIS WAY TO THE WESTERN WALL, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS WIFE SARA AND SON CLOSE OF NETANYAHU STANDING AT THE WESTERN WALL WIDE OF NETANYAHU AND RABBI WESTERN WALL SHMUEL RABINOVITCH MORE OF NETANYAHU PHOTOGRAPHERS ON SITE VARIOUS OF NETANYAHU WRI
- Embargoed: 2nd April 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jerusalem
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAOKH41S4FNSGJNOZ5FELFUKFE
- Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said prayers at the Western Wall on Wednesday (March 18) a day after claiming victory in Israel's parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu won a come-from-behind victory in Israel's election after tacking hard to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state.
In a pre-election blitz, Netanyahu made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties. He pledged to go on building settlements on occupied land and said there would be no Palestinian state if he was re-elected.
With 99.5 percent of votes counted on Wednesday, Likud had won 29-30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, comfortably defeating the centre-left Zionist Union opposition on 24 seats, Israel's Central Election Committee and Israeli media said. A united list of Arab parties came in third.
Netanyahu thanked Israel's citizens for re-electing him for a fourth term.
"I appreciate the decision by Israel's citizens to elect me and my friends, against all odds and in the face of powerful forces and I will do everything I can to care for the security and welfare of all Israelis," Netanyahu said after inserting a note into Judaism's most sacred site.
Although Netanyahu must still put together a coalition to remain in power, his victory all but guarantees that he will be given the first opportunity to form a government, putting him course to become the longest-serving leader in Israeli history.
While Likud is the largest party, the process of forming a coalition is hardly assured. It needs 61 seats in the Knesset and crossing that threshold will be challenging given the amount of division across Israel's political landscape. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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