<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu inched towards reclaiming power Wednesday after projected election results showed a majority government was within reach for the veteran right-winger, though the outlook could shift as ballots are counted.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">If the exit polls hold, it would mark a dramatic comeback for Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, whose Likud party could be poised to form a coalition with its ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies and a rising extreme-right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are close to a big victory," Netanyahu told supporters at a rally in Jerusalem early Wednesday. "We don't know the final results yet, but if the results are like the exit polls, I will form a national (right-wing) government."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But his main rival, caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, told his own supporters in Tel Aviv that "nothing is decided", and that his centrist Yesh Atid party "will wait patiently... for the final results".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The margins appeared wafer-thin, as was expected in the bitterly divided nation holding its fifth election in less than four years. Previous elections have shown that slight adjustments during the official count can turn an apparently decisive result into yet another deadlock.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the early signs were positive for the 73-year-old Netanyahu, who is on trial over corruption charges that he denies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Projections from three Israeli networks put Netanyahu's Likud on track for a first-place finish, with between 30 and 32 seats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That number, combined with projected tallies for the extreme-right Religious Zionism alliance and the two ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, would give the bloc backing Netanyahu between 61 and 62 seats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An outright victory for the bloc would end the short reign of an alliance of eight parties under Lapid that managed to oust Netanyahu last year before collapsing itself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- High turnout -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lapid's Yesh Atid was on track for an expected second-place finish, with projections giving it between 22 and 24 seats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But exit polls put the premier's ideologically-divided alliance of Netanyahu rivals short of a majority.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The head of the Israel Democracy Institute, Yohanan Plesner, warned of past "discrepancies" between exit polls and the actual results.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a climate of grinding political deadlock, concerns about voter fatigue were widespread, but in the end 71.3 percent of voters turned out, the highest rate since 2015, according to official figures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Coalition of extremists' –</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Extreme-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir would be key to helping Netanyahu return to power, with his Religious Zionism bloc on track for an estimated 14 seats, according to exit polls, double its current presence in parliament.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ben-Gvir, who wants Israel to annex the entire West Bank, said his rise was fuelled by Israelis' security concerns.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's time we go back to being masters of our country," he said, reiterating his call for security services to use more force against Palestinians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Justice Minister Gideon Saar, a former Likud heavyweight who broke with Netanyahu and now leads his own party, warned early Tuesday that Israel risked electing a "coalition of extremists".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Arab-Israeli lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman said Netanyahu might be on track to form a government "with fascists by his side".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- 'Growing extremism' -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The vote was held against a backdrop of soaring violence across Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 29 Palestinians and three Israelis were killed across the two territories in October, according to an AFP tally.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While many candidates have cited security as a concern, none have pledged to revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Shttayeh, said the projected outcome highlighted "growing extremism and racism in Israeli society".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lapid was the architect of the last coalition, which for the first time brought an independent Arab party into the fold.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The unlikely alliance was made possible after Mansour Abbas pulled his Raam party from a united slate with other Arab-led parties, paving the way for him to join the coalition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But Raam's pioneering support for a coalition was not viewed positively across Arab society, which makes up around 20 percent of Israel's population.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Raam was projected to re-enter parliament, according to exit polls, but Abbas charged that Arabs voters being "passive" could deliver a "gift" to Netanyahu, possibly ushering in a government with politicians known for virulent, anti-Arab rhetoric.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A focus of the overnight count was the Arab-led Balad party, which rejects any cooperation with Israeli governance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The early count put Balad just short of 3.25 percent of the vote needed to secure the minimum four seats in parliament.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If they cross the line when all the ballots are counted, that would reshuffle the tally, potentially dealing a blow to Netanyahu's chances. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>