Netanyahu claims his party is now a hair’s breadth away from Knesset majority
PM tells supporters latest data shows Likud and its allies at 59.7 of required 61 seats; petition accuses him of violating campaign laws by disclosing survey results
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Sunday that his party’s internal polling showed he was a stone’s throw away from a Knesset majority that would allow the formation of a right-wing government.
“Our data from three hours ago shows we are at 59.7 seats,” he told supporters at an election rally outside Tel Aviv, referring to his bloc of right-wing and religious parties. “We are very close to victory.”
He said “this movement [of votes] is a consistent trend of recent days, and we can bring about the formation of secure right-wing government for Israel.”
Polling in the final days before Monday’s election showed support for Likud grow slightly, possibly surpassing its rival Blue and White, though the surveys indicated the party is still several seats short of achieving a 61-seat Knesset majority without the support of Yisrael Beytenu and its leader Avigdor Liberman.
In response to his speech, Attorney Shachar Ben Meir filed a petition against Netanyahu with the Central Elections Committee on Sunday, accusing the prime minister of breaking election laws, which forbid the publication of polling data in the three days before an election.
Ben Meir demanded that Likud be fined for the violation, Haaretz reported.
The Likud party responded in a statement, saying the ban is against broadcasting or publishing polls and that Netanyahu had made “a verbal announcement” rather than publishing the results of survey.
Monday is the nation’s third election in less than a year, after neither Netanyahu nor Blue and White leader Benny Gantz were able to form coalitions in the last two rounds, and talks on a unity government fell through.
The prime minister suffered a setback Sunday evening as the far-right Otzma Yehudit party declared it would not step down — potentially costing the right-wing bloc 1-2 seats.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-claims-his-party-is-now-a-hairs-breadth-away-from-knesset-majority/