Israel election | 88.6% ballots counted, Netanyahu near certain to be next Prime Minister
The Hindu
Jerusalem With nearly 90% of ballots counted in the Israeli general elections, veteran politician Be
With nearly 90% of ballots counted in the Israeli general elections, veteran politician Benjamin Netanyahu was poised to be the Prime Minister once again, according to official data.
Mr. Netanyahu’s party Likud and its far-right allies are projected to receive a clear majority with 65 seats in the 120-member Knesset or Parliament.
Likud leader Mr. Netanyahu, 73, will with near certainty be Israel’s next Prime Minister after approximately 90% of the votes counted, the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted the Central Election Committee’s data.
The Netanyahu coalition will consist of 65 MKs (Members of the Israeli Parliament), while the Lapid bloc will consist of 50 and Hadash-Ta’al five.
The results after 88.6% of the vote were: Likud 32, Yesh Atid 24, Religious Zionism Party (RZP) 14, National Unity 12, Shas 11, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) eight, Yisrael Beytenu five, Ra’am five, Hadash-Ta’al five and Labor four, the report said on Wednesday.
The Times of Israel newspaper reported that a Netanyahu-led Government would see a sharp drop in women in the coalition. Current results project 9 female MKs in parties that back the former Prime Minister, with none among the ultra-Orthodox factions.
Based on these results, the likely Netanyahu-led coalition will have nine female MKs — six in his Likud party and three from the far-right Religious Zionism, though the figure could end up rising through ministerial appointments.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.