White House and the winner in Israel election

According to Israeli news media and exit polls, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel wins about the same number of seats in Parliament with his chief challenger of the center-left Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog in Tuesday’s election.

It is expected from the popular former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, who broke away — in part out of frustration with Netanyahu to to form the Kulanu party to play a leading role in negotiations on a new government.

Kahlon said that he would wait until the final results were in before announcing whom he would support for the premiershiphad. That was through his short speech after the polls closed with both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Herzog. Israel Radio reported

Obama “remains committed to working very closely with the winner of the ongoing elections to cement and further deepen the strong relationship between the United States and Israel, and the president is confident that he can do that with whomever the Israeli people choose.” The White House press secretary said

Who will end up as Israel’s leader will depend in no small part on whether several smaller parties manage to cross the raised electoral threshold. an intense push in the final days apparently brought a surge in votes for both major parties, after a divisive campaign that was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s tenure.