TUESDAY’S Israeli general election — the fifth in just over three years — saw a win for the ultra-nationalist religious right, despite being widely reported as a dramatic return to power for former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
With votes still being counted today, the three partners in Mr Netanyahu’s future coalition — the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism UTJ, the Sephardi Orthodox Shas party, and the Religious Zionism alliance — are set to win 33 seats between them, one more than Mr Netanyahu’s Likud.
Likud, once untouchable in its dominance of right-wing politics in Israel, will be a minority within its own bloc of 65 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset.
Israeli media awash with leaks and rumours of Netanyahu’s plans to seize Gaza. Meanwhile, the unrelenting siege of Gaza continues unabated


