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JERUSALEM — Israel’s election was still too close to call Wednesday afternoon, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his chief rival, the former army chief Benny Gantz, a centrist, immediately commanding enough support to form a majority coalition, according to partial results and exit polls.
But Mr. Gantz’s Blue and White party appeared to have come out ahead of Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud, giving a small third party the power to decide the outcome. And his avowed desire to force a unity coalition including both their parties made it likely that, if the projections held, Mr. Gantz would be given the first chance of forming a government.
With about 63 percent of the ballots counted, Blue and White had 25.7 percent of the vote, slightly ahead of Likud, with 25 percent.
GayJew
Article URL : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/world/middleeast/israel-election-netanyahu.amp.html