Israeli poll panel puts off results announcement

The Central Election Committee of Isreal on Thursday put off announcement of results of the closely-fought general elections to allow more checking.

"A process of validation of the data that were entered into the computer system began ahead of the publication of the results," a spokesman of the election committee said in a statement. "In order to preserve the purity of elections, the election committee announced that the examination and control processes continue," the statement read.

The counting was completed on Thursday, but the Central Election Committee said it had postponed publishing the results to allow more checking. The committee said it will release the results of the Tuesday election only after more checking, Xinhua news agency reported.

The counting of 99 per cent votes on Wednesday indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and his rival ex-military chief Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White alliance won 35 seats each.

But the right-wing bloc in Parliament secured a majority, big enough to make it highly likely for Netanyahu to form the next coalition government.

The election committee completed counting of votes after an overnight tallying of the last votes of some 270,000 soldiers, diplomats, prisoners and other people who vote in unusual circumstances.

Unofficial results suggested that the New Right, a pro-settler party, and Zehut, a libertarian list, did not pass the electoral threshold needed to get into Parliament, according to reports.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, leaders of the New Right, said they intended to file an appeal against the result and demand a recount of votes.

Gantz's Blue and White party conceded defeat on Wednesday night, paving the way for Netanyahu's record-breaking fifth term in office. But they vowed to serve as "fierce opposition" to the right-wing leader.

--IANS

soni/pcj