Israeli election results show victory for Netanyahu

JERUSALEM — The final results from Israel’s hard-fought election show a resounding victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and place him in the best position to form the next government.

With nearly all the votes counted, Likud earned 29 out of parliament’s 120 seats and should be able to build a coalition government with right-wing and religious allies with relative ease.

Exit polls after the voting stations closed late Tuesday showed Netanyahu’s Likud virtually tied with Isaac Herzog’s center-left Zionist Union, but once the actual results came pouring in early Wednesday, the latter had dropped to just 24 seats.

Almost all the votes were counted by Wednesday evening. The final results are expected on Thursday. The latest breakdown is as follows:

LIKUD – 29

ZIONIST UNION – 24

(ARAB) JOINT LIST – 14

YESH ATID – 11

KULANU – 10

JEWISH HOME – 8

SHAS – 7

UNITED TORAH JUDAISM – 7

YISRAEL BEITEINU – 6

MERETZ – 4