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'Dark days' and 'further oppression' ahead as Netanyahu-led right-wing gov't edges closer to power
Latest poll figures in Israel's fifith election in under four years show Benjamin Netanyahu the opposition leader, edging closer to assembling a right-wing religious coalition.
"The main outcome of this election is the proliferation of the fascist right in the ranks of the Israeli public," Aida-Touma Sulieman told The New Arab. Sulieman is an MK from the Al-Jabha or the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and is the number three candidate on the joint ticket of Al-Jabha and the Arab Movement for Renewal party. Her slot on the Knesset is, for now, secure.
With 86 per cent of the vote accounted for, the Likud party has 32 seats, PM Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid has 24, and Religious Zionism has 14.
The United Arab List and the joint electoral list of al-Jabha and the Arab Movement for Renewal got five seats each.
A-Tajamo hasn't crossed the 3.25 per cent electoral threshold but sits close at 3.04 per cent. Meretz, a left-wing Israeli party, is also below the threshold but hovers at 3.19 per cent.
If A-Tajamo and Meretz cross the threshold, the Knesset mandates could alter.
"It's really a dark day," Meretz party member, Laura Wharton, told TNA.
"They're a bunch of criminals; it will be a disastrous government," referring to the coalition in the making that Netanyahu would lead.
Wharton is also Jerusalem City Councillor. She did not expect Meretz to cross the threshold but also doubted that the coalition would be stable.
Meretz offered the Labor party to join the ranks, but Labor rejected the offer. Once a popular Israeli party, labour has only sliced four seats in this round.
Yisrael Medad, a Netanyahu supporter and a settler in the Jewish settlement of Shiloh in the occupied West Bank, said he was "unhappy" with Yair Lapid's government.
Medad blamed the Arabs for the rise of the Kahanists and dismissed ideological reasons.
"Arabs have caused themselves the problems," Medad said.
"Mr Netanyahu should find the proper balance between the desires of his supporters and the needs of the State of Israel," he added.
The Israeli elections results drew responses from international humanitarian organisations.
The Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General, Jan Egeland, warned that Israel's election result would likely bring "further oppression" on Palestinians.
"Israel's election results forecast a new government intent on permanent rule over Palestinians," the statement said.
In the following days, Israeli President Issac Herzog is expected to summon Benyamin Netanyahu to task him with forming a ruling coalition.
Netanyahu needs a minimum of 61 seats in the Knesset. A likely coalition of the Likud, Religious Zionism, Shas and United Torah Judaism would amount to 65 seats in the Knesset, a comfortable majority for Benyamin Netanyahu.