Look who's back

The scandal-ridden political behemoth is on the verge of a third stint as prime minister this time at the helm of the most extreme rightwing coalition the country has seen. How did it come to pass?

- Bethan McKernan JERUSALEM

Don't call it a comeback. Benjamin Netanyahu was booted from office last summer by a broad coalition united by their distaste for the conservative Likud leader.

But after last Tuesday's election - an unprecedented fifth poll in less than four years - the short-lived "government of change" looks likely to prove no more than a brief intermission in the political behemoth's long career.

Having won a decisive majority, the former prime minister has begun coalition negotiations on forming a government with the help of ultraOrthodox parties and a new alliance with the far right.

After a year in opposition, and years of political chaos triggered by his ongoing corruption trial, the veteran politician has engineered another comeback. His majority means that the period of electoral deadlock is in all probability over for now, and Netanyahu - already the country's longest-serving prime minister - is likely to be in the job for at least the next four years. Back in office, the 73-year-old's first priority will be seeking to get his trial dropped. He denies all charges.

Netanyahu's conservative Likud party won 32 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, making it the largest party, and his bloc managed to win 64 seats overall, largely thanks to a doubling in support for the extremist Religious Zionists. In Israel's political system, coalition-building is necessary to govern, and the new administration is likely to be the most extremist in Israeli history.

News of Netanyahu's dramatic victory was greeted by rightwing and nationalist leaders around the world: Italy's far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Hungary's Viktor Orbán were among the first to offer their congratulations after the final vote count was announced last Thursday.