Netanyahu appears headed toward reelection in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears headed toward reelection, edging out challenger and former army chief Benny Gantz in Tuesday’s election, according to media reports.

With more than 97 percent of the vote counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party and its allies were in control of a 65-55 majority in Parliament, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}The victory would give Netanyahu a fifth term as prime minister, making him Israel’s longest-ever serving leader after a close race against Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party. 

“It’s a night of tremendous victory,” Netanyahu said in remarks to supporters Wednesday, according to the AP. “I was very moved that the nation of Israel once again entrusted me for the fifth time, and with an even greater trust.”

Netanyahu was on path to victory despite facing corruption charges. Earlier this year, Israel’s attorney general recommended charging the prime minister with bribery and fraud, though he has denied any wrongdoing.

Netanyahu’s apparent victory also comes after he pledged on the eve of the election to annex the West Bank, which is home to about almost 3 million Palestinians and hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers, according to The New York Times.

He also accused Gantz during the campaign of conspiring with Arab parties to defeat him, according to the AP.

The prime minister pledged Wednesday, however, “to be the prime minister of all Israeli citizens.”

“I want to make it clear, it will be a right-wing government, but I intend to be the prime minister of all Israeli citizens, right or left, Jews and non-Jews alike,” Netanyahu said.