Chareidim And Right Wing On the Verge Of Resounding Victory In Israel

The Israeli right-wing and chareidi parties appear to have finally achieved a landslide victory after four close elections as statistics from the polling places reached the central election committee in Israel, albeit this is still preliminary.

The success is partially attributable to the right’s exceptional voter turnout but primarily to the left’s and Arab parties’ disintegration and inability to come together for the elections.

With a predicted 14 seats, Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-united Gvir’s right-wing party has become the third-largest in the Knesset behind Likud (31) and Yesh Atid (24).

The chareidi parties will make up a sixth of the Knesset, which is significantly more than their percentage of the population.

Shas is presently predicted to have 12 seats, a considerable increase from their current 9 seats, while UTJ has managed to recruit a further Knesset member and reach 8 seats.

Labor and Meretz appear to have taken a significant hit on the left after failing to put their differences aside and come together.

While Meretz, which previously held 6 seats, is currently under the electoral threshold and in danger of dying, Labor currently holds an anticipated 4 seats, down from the 7 it fits in the previous government.

The National Party of Benny Gantz and Gidon Saar, who lost some of their electoral power and have an expected 12 seats, did not live up to the expectations of its leaders.

Before the elections, the Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am parties split into three, with the extremist anti-Israel Balad party remaining.

Balad gained significantly more votes than projected and prevented the other Arab parties from reaching their full potential, even though it is not expected to cross the electoral threshold. With the left fragmented and in chaos, the two Arab parties will preserve the 10 seats they currently hold in the Knesset but will lack political strength.

Although Ayelet Shaked’s Jewish Home party fell short of the barrier, it may be to blame for swaying voters away from left-wing parties and raising the threshold (which is set at 3.25% of the total number of valid votes cast), which might prevent Meretz from being elected to the Knesset.