BICOM

Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz both declared victory last night after the exit polls revealed a tie between the two leading parties.

“This is an unimaginable achievement,” Netanyahu said: “I am very moved tonight, a night of tremendous victory. I am very excited that the people of Israel once again trusted me for the fifth time, and with greater confidence.”

He added: “I have already started talks with the leaders of our right-wing parties, and almost all of them have publicly declared that they will recommend me to form the government, and will do so to our President. There will be a right-wing government, but I intend to be the Prime Minister of all the citizens of Israel, right and left, Jews and non-Jews, I care about everyone, that’s how it was and that’s how it will be.”

Benny Gantz claimed victory hours earlier, as two exit polls showed his Blue and White party beating the Likud.

He told his party’s activists: “This is an historic day. Thank you to Netanyahu for his service for the country. There are election losers, there are election winners – and we are the winners. We will win in a way that is respectful to everyone, respectful of the past, respectful of the present, and building a joint future that is yet to come.”

Gantz also vowed to move quickly to form the next government. He said: “We have a responsibility to form a government that will serve the State of Israel and not itself,” he said. “The sooner we form a government, the sooner we can lead the State of Israel. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

In a letter to his supporters upon waking up to election results which revealed a likely Likud victory, Gantz maintained a degree of cautious optimism.

“Good morning friends, yes, good morning. The reports tell an unfinished story. There is nothing final about (the results). We may be able to make a political maneuver of one kind or another. They, our voters, asked for hope and we gave it to them. They wanted another way and we outlined it. Therefore, we will not retreat from our public obligation to represent more than a million citizens who asked us for a something different. We have something to be proud of.”