Sa’ar says left’s celebration ‘premature,’ PM mum on projections showing his bloc well short of a majority

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posts on X that “the left’s celebration is premature,” after projections by TV networks show the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu well short of a majority.

“The certainties of biased commentators are ludicrous,” writes Sa’ar, of Netanyahu’s Likud party. “One thing is reasonably clear: Likud is the biggest party in Israel.”

The foreign minister adds that “it’s always good to learn something from the past,” sharing a video of Menachem Begin — Likud’s founder, and its first to reach the premiership — encouraging patience with results on the eve of his party’s historic election win in 1977.

Netanyahu himself is not expected to arrive at Likud headquarters in Jerusalem until 1 a.m., the Ynet news site reports. He has not yet responded to the exit polls.

They show Likud as the largest party, winning 24-25 seats, ahead of Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, with 21-23.

However, they show the premier’s bloc reaching only 50 seats total, out of the Knesset’s 120. Eisenkot’s bloc is projected to win 52-53 seats, with the remainder going to the Arab-majority Joint List and Ra’am.