Benjamin Netanyahu remains in the lead after the Israeli parliamentary elections, but his bloc does not receive the majority needed to form a government. With more than 92% of the ballots counted, the coalition around “Likud“ has 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, the bloc of former Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot has 48, and the Arab parties have 19 seats.
A parliamentary majority is needed for 61 seats. This means that neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot has enough support on their own. Partial results may change after the counting of ballots in double envelopes, including those submitted by military personnel.
The two rivals announced different conclusions
Netanyahu told his supporters that the country must form a "strong right-wing national government". He stressed that "Likud" remains the largest party, and rejected the possibility that a future cabinet would depend on Arab formations.
Eizenkot, who heads the "Yashar" party, said that voters had rejected Netanyahu's continued rule. "Netanyahu is a resigned prime minister, without a mandate and without the trust of the people," he said, calling on the prime minister to retire from politics. Eisenkot also warned Netanyahu not to use security issues for political purposes.
Initial exit polls showed a near-equal result between the two main blocs, but the count gradually gave the Netanyahu coalition a lead. According to Reuters, with almost 86% of the votes counted, the prime minister's bloc is projected to win 53 seats, compared to 48 for the opposition bloc, and 19 for the Arab parties.
Arab parties could prove decisive
If the distribution holds, the opposition forces together with the Arab parties would have 67 seats. The political obstacle is that Eisenkot must decide whether to seek support from formations that are traditionally excluded from governing coalitions by most Jewish parties.
Netanyahu also has no easy path to a majority. His bloc is losing its parliamentary support and will have to negotiate with parties outside its natural alliance or rely on a new political realignment.
While the talks are ongoing, Netanyahu remains acting prime minister. President Yitzhak Herzog said he will receive the official results next week, after which he will begin consultations with all parliamentary factions. The president usually assigns the formation of a government to the leader who has the best chance of a majority, but is not obliged to choose the leader of the party with the most votes.
Final results are expected by the end of the week. If an agreement is not reached, Israel could face prolonged coalition talks or new elections. The prospect of a government without a stable majority has already weighed on financial markets - the shekel weakened by about 1.6%, and the main indexes on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fell by more than 3%.
Sources: reuters.com, apnews.com, theguardian.com