Bennett Declares Netanyahu Defeated in Israel Election

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared that Benjamin Netanyahu has lost Israel's election and that the current government will be removed from power.

Bennett said leaders of what he called the "bloc for change" are already coordinating to establish the next government. He described it as a "Zionist government built on an alliance of those who serve."

The new government, Bennett pledged, would "manage the country responsibly and serve all the people of Israel."

He also thanked his coalition partner Yair Lapid, calling him "a leader, an Israeli patriot, and a true friend."

On Monday, the day before the vote, Lapid had responded to election results in Serbia and Brazil by declaring that "being a Netanyahu associate is political damage around the world. In Israel too." He added: "Tomorrow the people of Israel begin the repair, returning Israel to a path of hope and success." The remarks sparked a sharp clash with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

Lapid and Saar (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni / Flash90)

Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday, October 27, to elect the 26th Knesset.

Ra'am chairman MK Mansour Abbas, whose party is one of the Arab parties, spoke on Channel 12 television after the first election polls were released. "With these numbers, there is no government," Abbas said.

Exit polls placed the Amcha Yisrael party, chaired by Res. Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, below the electoral threshold. Winter blamed attacks from within the national camp for the result. "Without the ugly campaign against us, the likes of which we've never seen, we would now have a strong right-wing government," Winter said.