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From the Liveblog of Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Netanyahu: Need to wait for final results, but ‘we’re on the cusp of a very big victory’

2 November 2022, 3:20 am 3 Edit

Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to address supporters at the party's campaign headquarters in Jerusalem early on November 2, 2022, as election results come in. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters from his Likud party following exit polls that forecast a majority for his right-religious bloc.

As Netanyahu greets the party’s lawmakers, many in the crowd chant “Bibi is back,” and “Bibi, king of Israel,” as they cheer the prospect of his return to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Today, we received an incredible expression of support,” he says of the expected results for Likud, while also touting the overall results for his bloc.

With vote counting still at an early stage, he calls on his supporters to wait until the final results, but says, “we are on the cusp of a very big victory.”

“The nation wanted a different a way, a different government,” he continues. “The nation wanted a government that will look out for it.”