A final vote count after the election which took place last week in Israel showed that the right-wing Likud Party managed to secure one less seat than the previously released data suggested. However, this does not strip Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his right to form the next government.
Commenting on his victory, Netanyahu said that he wanted "all parts of Israeli society, Jews and non-Jews as one, to be an integral part of the tremendous success story known as the State of Israel."
Meanwhile, the recount shows that the United Torah Judaism Party managed to win an extra seat in the Knesset. The results for other parties remained unchanged in comparison with last week's initial results.
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On the same day, Israeli media reported that Benjamin Netanyahu secured the support of the parliamentary majority, which recommended Israel's leader to form the new government.
According to The Times of Israel newspaper, President Reuven Rivlin received recommendations from 10 of the 11 parties elected to the parliament.
Thus, incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu enjoys the backing of 65 members of the parliament, while his rival from the Blue and White political alliance, Benny Gantz, has been supported by 45 lawmakers.
Netanyahu was backed by lawmakers from his Likud party, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, right-wing United Torah Judaism alliance, Union of Right-Wing Parties, Kulanu centrist party, and Yisrael Beytenu secular party. The latter is headed by Avigdor Lieberman who resigned from his defense minister post in November.
Gantz, who served as chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 2011-2015, in turn, received support from his centrist Blue and White alliance, left-wing Meretz party and the Israeli Labor Party.
Rivlin is due to meet with representatives of one more party, Raam-Balad, to discuss the candidate for the post of prime minister. This is unlikely to change the situation since the party holds only four seats in the parliament, according to the results of the recent parliamentary elections.
On the next day after the election, US President Donald Trump said he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his victory and reinforce American support for the Jewish state.
