ISRAELI ELECTIONS

In the early parliamentary elections in Israel, the Likud party and the right camp it leads gained a "great victory". This is how Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud leader and the current prime minister of Israel, described the results of the elections.

Likud gained 30 seats in the 120-seat Knesset of the 20th convocation, while its nearest rival - the left-of-centre Zionist Union of Yitzhak Herzog gained just 24. As you can see, not only did Likud not lose its positions in parliament, on the contrary, it strengthened them: in the Knesset of the 19th convocation, Likud had only 18 seats. They are followed by United Arab List with 14 seats, which justifies the forecasts and is already a precedent. Arab parties were finally able to overcome internal divisions and unite for the first time in the history of the State of Israel. Oriented to a social agenda, the Kulanu party of Moshe Kahlon, which debuted in this election, gained 10 seats. The political right-wing national-religious Jewish Home gained 8 mandates. The centrist party Yesh Atid, headed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid, gained 11 seats (compared to 20 in the last convocation), while the party of the Russian-speaking Israelis "Our Home - Israel" under the leadership of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also lost ground, earning only 6 seats compared to 11 in the previous parliament. Both parties were part of the ruling coalition.

Israeli media reported a record turnout - more than 71 per cent - and noted that Israeli Arabs, who make up about 20 per cent of the population, actively used their right to vote. Incidentally, Netanyahu took advantage of this and managed to mobilize the radical part of the Jewish community.

In any case, none of the parties has enough votes to form a government, since, according to Israeli law, the government is formed by the party that gains 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu, who first came to power in late 1996 and has ruled with "breaks" ever since, immediately announced the beginning of negotiations with other right-of-centre parties.

Thus, political scientists were wrong about the Zionist Union, which was given first place with a solid margin from Likud, although the opposition bloc, which is headed by Yitzhak Herzog and also includes Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, still managed to strengthen its position by three seats. According to Herzog, the election results prove the influence of his alliance and that it is impossible to ignore the opinion of his party.

In general, the fact that the Zionist Union and Likud came to the finish line almost level testifies to a split in Israeli society. For example, in comparison with the tough position of Likud, the Zionist Union has a more moderate agenda, giving the central place to social reforms and economy rather than external threats. The "Zionists" are also against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, but without the strain that is typical of Netanyahu recently. The bloc sees the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the formula of "two states for two peoples" (without returning to the 1967 borders). However, Herzog and Livni spoke most of all about solving the housing problem and problems in the field of education and health.

Likud, on the contrary, built its campaign rhetoric on issues of national security, being especially tough on the Israeli-Arab settlement. Netanyahu is categorically against the creation of a Palestinian state and the division of Jerusalem as part of the formula of "two states for two peoples". His position is extremely rigid and inflexible on the construction of new settlements in the West Bank of the Jordan River. The head of the Israeli government is confident that an independent Palestine would represent a great danger for Israel, because it can become a haven for radical Islamism, especially given the threatening advance of the Islamic State group recently. Although we cannot say that ISIS is particularly interfering in the issue of the Middle East conflict, at least not yet, the fact that the situation in neighbouring countries is seriously destabilized is not good news for Israel. Netanyahu constantly cites the Gaza Strip, where there are no Israeli troops, as an example to justify his tough stance. And as it turns out, quite a large number of Israeli citizens believe him.

Netanyahu has also been taking an irreconcilable position on Iran's nuclear programme. The head of the Israeli cabinet has repeatedly warned that Tehran may soon get a nuclear bomb and the Israelis have to do everything possible to prevent this from ever happening. In this case, Netanyahu does not even care that with his tough rhetoric he sometimes drives foreign partners away from Israel. Recently there has been a marked cooling in relations with Europe and the United States. According to some observers, Barack Obama and Netanyahu have mutual antipathy, which was only emphasized by the recent speech of the Israeli prime minister in the US Congress. Barack Obama and many congressional Democrats did not even come to hear Netanyahu urge American congressmen to halt negotiations with Iran. Now the Obama administration is saying that Israel may lose the support of the United States in the Security Council, meaning the US veto on anti-Israel resolutions. However, Obama's position is not decisive in Washington - during Netanyahu's speech Congress was packed and his speech was interrupted several times by applause, while supporters of Netanyahu in Israel experienced a feeling of pride for him, which seems to have translated into voters' support.

Among European politicians, not everyone approves of the plans of the Israeli government for the construction of settlements in the West Bank. The same can be said about the law on "the national character of the State of Israel", which deprives the Arabic language of its official status. Actually, it was because of this law that the parliamentary elections in Israel were held two years ahead of schedule, because Netanyahu dismissed two pigheaded ministers, accusing them of sabotaging his decisions. Critics say that the law will increase the already existing gap between the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel.

Not surprisingly, the first reaction of the PNA (Palestinian National Authority) to the victory of Likud was negative. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the PNA leadership considers the results of the parliamentary elections in Israel a "funeral for the possibility of continuing the peace process". According to Erekat, it is clear to the Palestinians that the policy of "dictatorship and settlements" will now continue. In this case, the Palestinian Authority intends to continue its diplomatic strategy of joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) and plans to accelerate the prosecution of Israel in the ICC.

By the way, there is also a view that Israel needs to finally solve the Palestinian problem and thus enlist the support of Arab states that also fear the rise of Iran and ISIS. But Netanyahu and his team respond to it saying that such tactics would yield short-term benefits and that it is much more difficult to defend the interests of the state contrary to international pressure. Likud also rejects accusations of ignoring internal problems and putting an emphasis on the fact that Israel has stable economic growth and one of the best health systems in the world, and in any case, the centrist parties, which will inevitably have to enter into a coalition, are focused on the social agenda. However, it is clear that Netanyahu, undertaking early elections to strengthen his position, has still not fully achieved what it wants. After all, for negotiations on the creation of the government, he will have to make concessions.