Benjamin Netanyahu wins majority in Israeli election

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a majority of parliamentary seats in the country’s fifth election in four years.

Netanyahu and his right-wing allies won a total of 64 seats of parliament’s 120 seats. His own Likud party won 32 seats, while ultra-Orthodox parties secured 18 seats, and a far-right alliance won 14 seats, the Israeli electoral commission said on Thursday.

Lapid’s opposition bloc secured 51 seats.

Netanyahu will be invited by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to form a government, a process that is likely to begin next week.

Netanyahu will have 28 days to form what is expected to be the most right-wing Israeli government in history.