Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday his victory in the Israeli legislative elections, as the preliminary results of the elections showed him ahead of his rival, former General Benny Gantz, to become a strong position to form the next government, despite his accusations of corruption and his appearance before the court After two weeks. In Ramallah, the Palestinian presidency announced its readiness to deal with any Israeli government that "is committed to achieving a just peace."

Before the final results of the third legislative elections were issued, the Central Elections Committee announced yesterday morning that it had completed counting more than 90% of the votes. According to the committee, the Yemeni Likud led by Netanyahu (70 years) received 29.3% of the vote, compared to 26.3% for the "Blue and White" coalition led by Benny Gantz.

These numbers mean that, according to the Israeli electoral system, Likud will get 36 seats, compared to 32 seats for the centrist coalition.

Netanyahu can count on a total of 59 seats by counting his far-right allies and religious Jewish parties, which makes him only need two seats to obtain a parliamentary majority and form a government.

These are the best results the Likud would ever achieve under Netanyahu, who served as prime minister for the first time from 1996 to 1999, and his current term began in 2009.

And if the "Blue and White" coalition considers its center-left allies and the "joint list" coalition of Arab-Israeli parties that it may support in parliament, its anti-Netanyahu camp will receive between 54 and 55 seats.

There are no guarantees that Netanyahu will be able to form a government coalition, but the latter praised the election results, which he saw as a "great victory."

"This is the most important victory in my life," Netanyahu told a crowd of supporters in Tel Aviv.

Likud reported that Netanyahu spoke to all the leaders of the right-wing parties, and "agreed to form a strong national government for Israel as soon as possible."

For his part, the opponent of Netanyahu, "Blue and White" party leader Benny Gantz, acknowledged "disappointment" with the election results.

"You have to wait for a longer time," Gantz told reporters, whom he met outside his home. "The election results are slowly starting to appear. It is clear that Netanyahu has not gathered 61 seats to form the government. We will see what we can do." “We respect the voters’ decision, and we will study our options, ”he added. The public must be aware that we have been, are and will remain committed to the future as well. ”

Gantz had stressed that, regardless of the end result, Netanyahu was still due to appear in court on March 17 after being accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will likely ask Netanyahu to form the next government, but it will not be easy for him to secure 61 votes in the Knesset.

Expectations indicate that Avigdor Lieberman, the secular Nationalist Party of Israel, has six or seven seats.

The former war minister can again play the role of "kingmaker", as he did in the April and September elections.

Lieberman's support for the Likud party is important, and will guarantee him the support of 61 deputies, and will enable him to form the 23rd government.

After the September elections, Lieberman announced that he could only join a national unity government, while excluding alliances with the hard-line parties already allied with Netanyahu and the Arab list that had announced its support for Gantz.

"There is no option but to wait for the final results, after which an assessment of the situation can be made," Lieberman said after the polls were published.

In Ramallah, the Palestinian presidency announced its readiness to deal with any Israeli government "committed to achieving a just peace", following the parliamentary elections that took place in Israel.

In a statement published by the official Palestinian News Agency, Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina stated that "the results of the Israeli elections are an internal matter, and what concerns us only is the preservation of our steadfast and legitimate national rights, particularly Jerusalem and its sanctities, and we will not allow anyone to liquidate our cause."

Abu Rudeina said, "We are ready to deal with any Israeli government committed to achieving a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy resolutions, to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders."

He added: "The Palestinian people will remain steadfast on their land, adhering to its national principles, and will fail all conspiracies aimed at liquidating our national cause. We will win, as we have won in all the battles they fought in defense of our national rights."

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh considered that the advance of the Israeli Likud party led by Netanyahu in the elections "indicates that Israeli society is increasing right-wing."

Shtayyeh said at his government's weekly meeting: "There are media weightings related to Netanyahu's return to power, and this, if anything, indicates that Israeli society is increasing right-wing."

Gantz: "We respect the decision of the voters and we will study our options."