FirstFT: Exit polls show Netanyahu’s rightwing bloc holds slim lead in Israeli election

Israel’s former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in pole position to emerge victorious from yesterday’s parliamentary elections, according to exit polls that put his rightwing bloc on course for a razor-thin majority.

Polls by Israel’s three main television channels, released after voting closed, forecast that a bloc combining Netanyahu’s Likud party, the extreme-right Religious Zionism grouping and two ultra-Orthodox parties that have traditionally backed Netanyahu would win 61 to 62 seats.

The Yesh Atid party of prime minister Yair Lapid and several smaller allies were forecast to win 54 to 55 seats between them, while the non-aligned Arab Hadash-Ta’al grouping was predicted four mandates.

Exit polls in previous Israeli elections have not always been accurate, and final results could change as votes are counted through the night, especially if a small Arab party currently forecast to fall below the electoral threshold were to clear it.

But if they prove correct, Netanyahu’s bloc would hold a thin majority in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, and he would have a path back to power less than 18 months after being ousted by a sprawling eight-party coalition.

“We’re alive and kicking,” Netanyahu said, according to Israel’s Channel 13 TV station.

Thanks for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa. Here’s the rest of the news — Gary

Five more stories in the news

1. Sunak postpones showdown with City regulators Rishi Sunak has delayed plans to allow ministers to over-rule City regulators, putting off a showdown with the Bank of England. City minister Andrew Griffith told MPs that the prime minister wanted more time “to understand what is an important and detailed matter”.

2. Musk outlines Twitter premium subscription plan Elon Musk has proposed a premium $8 a month subscription service that will verify users, boost the visibility of their posts and allow them to see fewer advertisements, in his first step towards overhauling the product since he took the reins last week.

• Further reading: Musk is right: the number of shared spaces where differences can be hashed out has shrunk, writes Stephen Bush. Can he make Twitter the place to peacefully disagree?

3. Qatar Investment Authority to increase Credit Suisse stake Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to invest in Credit Suisse’s share sale alongside the Saudi National Bank, according to people with knowledge of the talks. The deal will result in Middle Eastern investors owning up to a quarter of the Swiss bank’s stock, as it seeks to raise SFr4bn ($4bn) to fund a radical restructuring.

4. Hollywood wants a cut as Netflix debuts ad-supported streaming Studios are negotiating for a cut of new Netflix revenues with the streaming service’s advertisement-supported service set to launch tomorrow. Netflix’s subscriber base shrank for two consecutive quarters this year, leading to a halving of its market value and a search by management for new sources of revenue.

5. Top US trade official urges EU to join forces on subsidies Katherine Tai, Washington’s most senior trade official, has called on the EU to introduce subsidies while offering a trenchant defence of the US’s bumper green energy package. Critics say the $369bn package unfairly supports the US’s own manufacturers.

The day ahead

Economic data Germany releases September unemployment figures, while JPMorgan publishes its Global Manufacturing PMI.

Earnings Cognizant, CVS Health, eBay, Estée Lauder, Fastly, Ferrari, MetLife, Next, Qualcomm, Roku and Zillow release quarterly results.

US monetary policy The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point for the fourth meeting in a row.

What else we’re reading

Jeremy Hunt’s options for saving £50bn The UK chancellor will use his Autumn Statement to set out a plan that aims to have debt falling as a share of GDP in five years. Higher taxes are a given. But what are the other options?

The cost of getting South Africa to stop using coal Coal accounts for about 85 per cent of South Africa’s electricity. With income per capita of roughly $7,000, the country is also one of the most inefficient at turning fossil fuels into economic output. But that means there are quick wins to be had if finance can be found to help South Africa — and countries like it — transition more quickly to clean energy.

There is no need for defeatism on climate change The reasons not to be cheerful on climate change are obvious, writes Pilita Clark. So what grounds are there for optimism? One big reason: governments and regulators are finally getting serious, and taking unprecedented steps that would have been unthinkable even a year ago.

Geopolitics is the biggest threat to globalisation How might globalisation end? Some seem to imagine a relatively peaceful “decoupling” of economies, writes Martin Wolf. But it is likely that the fracturing will be both consequence and cause of deepening global discord. If so, a more destructive end is likely.

Ukraine raid heralds new era of naval drone warfare An audacious, long-distance assault by unmanned exploding boats on Russia’s Black Sea fleet over the weekend, with multiple unmanned explosive vessels penetrating a supposedly protected harbour, provide a “glimpse into the future of naval warfare”, says a defence analyst.

Gaming

Poetry and video games might not seem like natural bedfellows, but a London exhibition is exploring the overlaps and surprising similarities between the two forms.