Palestinian PM condemns 'hopelessly right-wing' Israeli election results

Palestine's prime minister said the popularity of Israel's right-wing shows there is little hope for dialogue and peace.
2 min read
25 March, 2021
Mohammed Shtayyeh condemned the results [Getty]
The results of the Israeli elections show there is little hope for peace, the Palestinian Authority [PA] prime minister said on Wednesday, after strong polling from right and far-right parties.

Mohammad Shtayyeh said the right-wing dominance in the election results indicate there could be no potential for talks with the Israeli side, during his visit to the occupied city of Tubas in the West Bank governorate of Nablus.

"The political agendas of the winning parties in the Israeli election show there will be no political partner for Palestine in the peace process," he said.

Still, Palestine is ready to be "a partner in any serious and real peace process", he added.

Shtayyeh also called on the international community to "stop Israeli attacks on Palestinian land, water and property".

After holding their fourth election in two years on Tuesday, Israel faces yet more political wrangling with no clear indication on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his rivals could form a government.

Netanyahu, 71, Israel's longest-serving premier after 12 years in power, had hoped that Tuesday's election would finally allow him to unite a stable right-wing coalition behind him after three inconclusive elections since 2019.

He ran on his credentials as a hawkish guarantor of Israeli security who scored a diplomatic coup by establishing relations with several Arab states late last year.

Once again he was denied a clear path to victory, even though Likud scored more than 24 percent of the vote and easily beat its closest rival - the centrist Yesh Atid - which took around 14 percent.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won the most votes, boosting his chances of building a coalition with a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

But a rival "Anyone but Netanyahu" camp of parties was running neck-and-neck, spelling more uncertainty ahead as the official vote count continues and parties engage in intense horse-trading.

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