Gantz calls for broad unity government after Israeli election

Benny Gantz, leader and candidate of the Israel Resilience party that is part of the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) political alliance, addresses supporters at the alliance’s campaign headquarters in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv early on September 18, 2019. – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger Benny Gantz were locked in a tight race in the country’s general election after polls closed, exit surveys showed, raising the possibility of another deadlock. Three separate exit polls carried by Israeli television stations showed Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance with between 31 and 34 parliament seats each out of 120. (Photo by GALI TIBBON / AFP)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Benny Gantz, the main challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the country’s general election, called for a broad unity government early Wednesday as exit surveys showed a tight race.

“We will act to form a broad unity government that will express the will of the people,” Gantz told supporters at a post-election rally in Tel Aviv.

He however cautioned that he was waiting for final results.

“We will begin negotiations and I will speak with everyone,” Gantz said.

“I call on my rivals to join me, leave the debates aside and act together for a better and just society for all Israeli citizens.”

It was Gantz’s first public comment since polls closed in Tuesday’s elections, Israel’s second in five months.

Three separate exit polls showed Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance with between 30 and 32 parliament seats each out of 120.

Ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman’s nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which could play a kingmaker role, could win between eight and nine seats, according to the polls.

Israel’s newly reunified Arab parties, running under the Joint List alliance, could meanwhile win between 13 and 15 seats, the exit polls show, which would make them the third-largest force in parliament.

They could potentially block Netanyahu from continuing as prime minster by recommending Gantz for the job, which they have not ruled out doing.

© Agence France-Presse