Netanyahu against the polls earned victory over his closest rival Issac Herzog. Netanyahu’s Likud Party captured more seats in the Zionist parliament than Herzog’s Zionist United Party. The latest polls before the elections had Netanyahu running behind.
White House aide David Simas hinted on CNN that President Obama hasn’t commented yet because the administration is waiting for Israel to complete forming its new coalition government, sputnik news reports.
Some hours later White House said “Kerry called to congratulate Netanyahu”. White House in response to Netanyahu comments on Palestinian said: US still backs two-state solution in Middle East.
Palestinian leaders on Wednesday called for international pressure on Israel and support for their unilateral moves toward statehood after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election win.
Netanyahu’s surprise victory, after pledging in the final days of the campaign that there would be no Palestinian state as long as he was in power, left Palestinians grim about prospects for a negotiated solution to a decades-old conflict.
On the other hand Israeli centre-left leader Isaac Herzog ruled out Wednesday prospects of a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu, the day after losing a general election to the right-wing prime minister's Likud party.
"Going into opposition is the only realistic option facing us," a spokeswoman quoted him as telling a meeting of his Zionist Union party.
Zionist Union's co-leader Tzipi Livni said Wednesday that "the path Netanyahu and his partners are laying out for the nation is not our way... It's clear there are two paths and two different value systems.
One is led by Netanyahu and his natural partners, and the other by us, with our natural partners who still exist even when faced with the path that isolates Israel, one that doesn't see the citizens of the state."
She went on to say that the Zionist Union did what it had to do in the elections. "We joined together for a true partnership and I discovered the leader within Herzog."
US Republicans were the first US politicians to publicly congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday for winning Israel's closely-watched elections, weeks after the prime minister controversially addressed Congress at their invitation.
"Congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu on his re-election. He's a true leader who will continue to keep Israel strong and secure," Jeb Bush, a Republican prospective front runner in the 2016 presidential race, said on Twitter.