JERUSALEM (The Thursday Times) — Avigdor Lieberman called on Likud members on Tuesday night to remove Benjamin Netanyahu, and opposition leaders said voters had “fired” his government, as Arab-led parties celebrated their projected gains and the prime minister stayed silent more than two hours after exit polls showed his bloc losing its majority.
“If he leaves, it will be possible to rebuild the national camp,” Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu and a former finance minister, told supporters, according to Channel 12. He also said he was not sure the exit polls reflected the true results.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, said Israelis had “fired the Netanyahu government”. “We have received a historic opportunity to establish a true government of change in Israel and we have no intention of giving it up,” he wrote on X.
‘A force that cannot be ignored’
The public broadcaster Kan’s exit poll projected 11 seats for the Joint List and seven for Ra’am, giving Arab-led parties 18 seats that could decide who governs. Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen called it “a historic day” and said voters’ message was “clear and sharp”: “the ‘government of bloodshed’ must go!” “We have proven that we are a political force that cannot be ignored,” he said.
In Nazareth, former Arab lawmaker Osama Saadi dedicated the result to Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. “We have brought down this fascist government, this government of genocide, this government of ethnic cleansing,” he told supporters.
Ben-Gvir and the silence from Likud
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit is projected to win six or seven seats, told supporters he was proud of the party’s journey and warned that a government led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party “will be paralysing our work”. Netanyahu had not spoken publicly more than two hours after the exit polls were released, while his allies called the opposition’s celebrations premature.
Exit polls by Channel 12 and Channel 13 projected 52 to 53 seats for the opposition bloc and 50 for Netanyahu’s, short of the 61 needed. These are exit polls, not results; official results are expected by Wednesday evening. Read what happens next.
