Bibi Back on Balfour!

By David Parsons, ICEJ Vice President & Senior Spokesman

According to all the pollsters, this week’s elections in Israel were supposed to be another close nail-biter. Instead, it appears Benjamin Netanyahu – already Israel’s longest-serving prime minister – has a surprisingly easy path to forming a right-of-center government with a comfortable margin of at least 65 Knesset seats.

No doubt, most Israelis share a sense of relief that the political impasse which forced the country into five election campaigns in just the past 43 months has been broken. And many also are pleased that a strong and proven leader in Netanyahu is poised to assume the reins of leadership once more. Indeed, it feels like a return to normalcy for Bibi to be back again in the official prime minister’s residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem.

In assessing the latest election results, it is first worth noting that the nation somehow remained safe and strong and prosperous over the past four years of political stalemate, even though it lacked a stable government with a clear mandate to rule. And we need to be grateful for God’s hand of providence over Israel for that.

With the polls all showing another tight race again, the surprising results came about because several parties close to the electoral threshold to enter the Knesset failed to get over the hump, .