Netanyahu Victorious

Benjamin Netanyahu secured a victory yesterday and will continue serving as prime minister of Israel.

The White House sure is taking its time on responding to the Israeli elections…

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 18, 2015

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political party, Likud, scored at least a six-seat win over the second-place party, the Zionist Union. Fox News reports that the White House congratulated the country but not the prime minister directly.

The election results point to another two years of confrontation between President Obama and his Israeli counterpart, who is poised to secure a third consecutive term as prime minister. While tensions have flared for years between the two leaders, the last several weeks have seen their relationship further fray.

In the run-up to the election, Netanyahu took a hardline stance on the two issues on which his government and the Obama administration are most intertwined — Iran nuclear talks and the seemingly far-off prospects for an agreement with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu pronounced earlier this week he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state — something Obama supports and a key demand of the Palestinians for any peace agreement.

The prime minister said he was “proud of the Israeli people because at the moment of truth they knew to differentiate between challenge and nonsense and they took up the challenge…These are important things for every family, citizen, soldier, and all of Israel’s Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. You are all important, and you are all important to me.”