“Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu appeared poised for a stunning electoral victory Tuesday morning, though questions remained over whether he had enough support to form a coalition, as votes were counted following Monday’s national vote. With some 97 percent percent of ballots tallied, Likud held 29.35% of the votes, equal to around 36 Knesset seats, which could represent the party’s strongest ever showing as Israelis looked to end a deadlock that has left the country without a fully functioning government for over a year. Top rival Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party was trailing with 26.34% of the votes, representing some 32 seats, which would be the relatively new faction’s worst showing in three tries.”

“Despite predicting record gains for the Joint List alliance of Arab-parties, the mood at the party’s headquarters in the northern Israeli city of Shufaram was far from festive as exit polls were released Monday evening. As of early noon Tuesday and with 90 percent of the vote counted, the Joint List is set maintain its position as the third largest party, with 15 seats, two more than in the outgoing Knesset. But the excitement over the party strengthening was overshadowed by the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may finally succeed in forming a government, as his right-wing bloc was predicted to win 59 seats, just two shy of a majority.”

“Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman vowed Tuesday to do “everything” to prevent fourth elections, as emerging results indicated his party could again be in the kingmaker position with seven seats.”

“Two exit polls predicted Labor-Gesher-Meretz would win six seats, while the third said it would pick up seven. Peretz complained that Blue and White’s strategy of campaigning against Labor-Gesher-Meretz in the final days before the election had been a betrayal. ‘We acted out of responsibility to ensure a large bloc that had a chance to form a government and set us on a new path. We acted responsibly. We signed a vote-sharing agreement with Blue and White, and backed [leader] Benny Gantz completely,’ Peretz told party activists at the faction’s election-day headquarters on Monday night.”

“A victory for defendant Netanyahu is a defeat for the rule of law, and for every Israeli who wants to live in a democratic country governed by law, in which nobody is above the law. This is a black day for everyone who sought to put the nightmare of Netanyahu’s years in power, which were characterized by incitement, division and racism, behind us…Experience teaches that his first goal will be to halt the legal proceedings against him….This is a project that goes beyond protecting a prime minister charged with crimes. The Israeli right is interested in what Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Yamina party, on Monday termed a ‘sovereignty government,’ which would annex territory in violation of international law, steal Palestinian land and establish a de facto apartheid regime. For this reason, the election results can’t be seen as a random coincidence: To carry out a corrupt policy, you need a corrupt prime minister.”

“Both contenders for Israel’s premiership, Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, are hoping to give the victory speech after today’s vote. Yet regardless of who – if any – emerges the winner, Israelis have already been presented with this election’s victory image: the humiliating poster featuring Palestinian leaders kneeling, blindfolded and defeated, against the backdrop of a destroyed city. The campaign, advertised on billboards by the far-right group Israel Victory Project and quickly taken down by order of Tel Aviv’s mayor, is the epitome of Israel’s current phase of control over the Palestinians. Though they were in the public eye only for a short time, these billboards are already etched in the collective consciousness. After all, that is where the idea came from: the minds of a growing number of Jews in Israel who are publicly expressing their vision of absolute “victory” over the Palestinians — not only in the depths of their subconscious, but most openly and practically.”

“Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett gave what for all intents and purposes was a victory speech on Monday night after exit polls indicated that his national religious party managed largely to maintain its presence in the Knesset, while the right-wing, religious bloc was on the verge of being able to form a coalition. ‘The right-wing camp has won and [Yamina] will ensure that the path of the right-wing will win as well,’ Bennett told dozens of supporters at the party headquarters in the central town of Kfar Maccabiah. The defense minister’s party campaigned aggressively on the notion that its presence in the government is crucial if Israelis really want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to follow through on his promises to right-wing voters, particularly West Bank annexation.”

“Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the exit polls by Israeli media showed that ‘settlement, annexation and apartheid have won the Israeli elections. Netanyahu’s campaign was about the continuation of the occupation and conflict,’ Erekat added on Twitter, saying the result would ‘force the people of the region to live by the sword: continuation of violence, extremism and chaos.’”

“The State Department will take action against harassment of businesses blacklisted by the ‘UN’s so-called human rights council’ for operating in the West Bank, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the AIPAC Policy Conference on Monday.  Pompeo announced that the State Department released official guidance on the subject only hours before his address. ‘Neither the UN Human Rights Council nor the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights can tell you what to do,’ he said. ‘If you face harassment, let America know and the US will respond to take action [to help] members of our business community that are being threatened by this release that was so sorely mistaken.’ The Secretary of State called the blacklist ‘a real threat,’ but also said that all it does is strengthen’s BDS and delegitimize Israel, Pompeo argued. ‘This was an organization set up to ensure no one ever endured suffering like Jews did in the Holocaust, and now it is antisemitic,’ Pompeo said, adding that the ‘UN’s so-called human rights council…betrays its most fundamental mandate.’ Pompeo reiterated the Trump administration’s position, the ‘common-sense truth, that settlements aren’t per se inconsistent with international law.’”

“The common thread across all of the candidates’ racial justice agendas is an acknowledgement that US policies have been harmful and have not followed standards of racial equity, and that this is fundamentally at odds with the values of freedom, equal opportunity, and fairness. When compared to their positions on the rights of Palestinians, such progressive values generally come up short, with the candidates repeating one-sided rhetoric on Israel’s right to exist in security and nominally supporting a defunct two-state solution and ‘peace process’ that allows Israel to continue its colonization of Palestinian land and displacement of Palestinians. However, this election has also seen the development of further accountability for Israel and support for Palestinian self-determination – language that departs from the status quo and mirrors the shift in opinions among the Democratic Party’s electorate.  “

“The boycott AIPAC movement launched by IfNotNow and other young activists has triggered much debate: Are American Jews changing their relationship with Israel? Has AIPAC changed? Have Democrats? Longtime watchers and activists agree that the activists represent a new generation of Israel critics that differs in key ways from the pro-peace movement of the 1990s. That earlier movement focused on a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, buoyed by witnessing the Madrid Peace Conference and the Oslo accords, when the world saw Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shake hands. The new groups are the product of post-millenial liberal politics, with antipathy toward nationalism of all kinds and a hunger to tear down the entire system of money in politics.”

“Instead of its tradition of representing strong, broad support for Israel, AIPAC is becoming about as bipartisan as the National Rifle Association.”

“Economic analyst Samir Abu Mudallal told Al-Monitor the Israeli blockade is causing the Gaza Strip up to $1.5 billion in economic losses. ‘Thus, Israel allowing 7,000 Palestinian merchants from Gaza to work there is a positive step, albeit insufficient,’ Abu Mudallal noted. He said ‘such a step would help improve the economic situation of 7,000 Palestinian households in the Gaza Strip and reduce unemployment,’ yet it will not resolve Gaza’s economic crisis in the long run. Abu Mudallal said Israel needs to lift the siege in order for the economic situation to improve in the Gaza Strip. Israel also needs to let go of the commercial crossings and allow Palestinians to exploit their economic resources, he added.”