Gantz’s party concedes defeat in Israel's general polls

JERUSALEM

Israel’s Blue and White alliance of retired Gen. Benny Gantz on Wednesday conceded defeat in general elections in the country, local media reported.

"The result is quite unprecedented and indicates the level of expectation [for an alternative] … Our party consists of right, left, religious and secular. In 70 days we managed to achieve the same amount of Knesset seats as a party which exists since the 1970s," daily Yediot Ahronot quoted Gantz as saying.

"[Benjamin] Netanyahu gathered all of the extremists and cannibalized his partners," he added.

Blue and White co-leader Yair Lapid, for his part, said: "One cannot understate our achievement in this election: In a matter of weeks we established a party fit to rule, and part of the DNA of a ruling party is never to give up.”

“I am telling the Likud and the coalition: 'We are going to make life miserable for you. The days when the opposition desperately sought to enter the government are over," Lapid was quoted as saying by the daily.

According to preliminary results cited by Israeli daily Haaretz, Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition captured 65 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Initial results gave Likud 35 Knesset seats; United Torah Judaism and the Shas Party eight seats each; Yisrael Beiteinu five seats; the Union of Right-Wing Parties five seats; and the Kulanu Party four seats.

Likud’s main rival, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party, meanwhile, clinched 35 seats in the assembly.