article_snippet: (CNN)Notwithstanding the polls, the valiant efforts of the Obama White House, a new unity on the Israeli left and a controversial term, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party appears to have swept to victory in Tuesday's Israeli elections.
article_snippet: For many in Israel, re-election turned on domestic economic issues and on personality.
article_snippet: Pollsters had believed that the combination of rising prices, slowing growth and a controversial leader at the helm of the incumbent Likud would finally doom the man who was looking to notch a historic fourth term as premier on the incumbent Likud belt.
article_snippet: While it will likely take some time for Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government, the reverberations of Benjamin Netanyahu victory will be felt fast in Washington.
article_snippet: And while the White House allowed it would work with whoever won Tuesday's Israeli elections, it seems clear whom the President would have voted for had the President been allowed to cast a ballot.
highlights_snippet: Benjamin Netanyahu looked set for re-election after Tuesday's poll .
  