The leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (Orthodox Union), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu upon the apparent results of Israel’s election and his likely return to leading the State of Israel’s government as Prime Minister.
“We extend our congratulations to Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on the election results and his likely return to lead the government of the State of Israel. We trust he will deliver on his mandate to protect the Jewish state and its right to exist and to help support Jews worldwide. As the homeland of our people, we look to the to-be-formed governing coalition to preserve the essential Jewish character of the State, by maintaining public Shabbat observance, Kashrut, and conversion standards,” it said in a statement.
“We wish Mr. Netanyahu the Almighty’s blessings of wisdom, strength, and fortitude as he steers Israel forward and protects her from her enemies. We look forward to working with him, as the Orthodox Union has worked with his predecessors since Israel’s founding,” the OU statement added.
“As the only democracy in the Middle East, we call upon the international community, as well as those across the global Jewish community, to congratulate Israel and work with its leaders to secure the region and advance its prosperity.”
On Thursday evening, the Central Elections Committee submitted its report with the preliminary results of the election. The results will be finalized next week, after recounts of contested ballot boxes are conducted and investigations into any claims of fraud completed.
The results showed that the Meretz Party will not be part of the 25th Knesset, having fallen 4,124 votes shy of the 3.25% minimum threshold required for entry into the Knesset.
After all the votes were counted, the right-wing bloc won 64 seats and the left-Arab camp won 56 seats.
The Likud won 32 seats, Yesh Atid - 24, the Religious Zionist Party - 14, National Unity - 12, Shas - 11, United Torah Judaism - 7, Yisrael Beytenu - 6, Ra'am - 5, Hadash-Ta'al - 5 and the Labor Party with 4 seats.
In addition to Meretz, the Balad Party, which split from Hadash-Ta’al moments before election slates were submitted, will also not be in the next Knesset.