'A win is a win': Israel opposition leader Lapid reacts to Netanyahu's poll setback

“It's not a knockout victory. It's a points victory. That counts too. A win is a win,” Lapid said (Photos: Agencies). Israel’s outgoing opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is also the second most prominent leader in the B’Yachad alliance, has claimed that the anti-Netanyahu bloc “won” the election, even though it fell short of an outright victory. He called on the public to be patient while the bloc looks for ways to form a government.“It's not a knockout victory. It's a points victory. That counts too. A win is a win,” Lapid said.The anti-Netanyahu bloc took a combined 67 seats in the 120-member Knesset, but reaching a majority of 61 is difficult.Three of the four Jewish-led parties in the bloc (Yashar, B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu) have rejected the idea of sitting in a coalition with the predominantly Arab Joint List and Ra’am. The Times of Israel reported.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, and his Likud party became the largest single party with 27. Still, Netanyahu also lacks a clear route to the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.In a post on X, Lapid said that Netanyahu’s opponents had hoped for “a clear, immediate victory”, but maintained that th...