Israel's high-stakes parliamentary election on Tuesday produced no clear winner after most of the votes were counted. That in itself was not unexpected, but there were nevertheless some surprises. Mr. Netanyahu's right-wing, populist party, Likud, outperformed many pre-election polls to become the largest party in Parliament, preliminary results show. It won fewer seats than in 2022, though. More noteworthy was the turnout by supporters of Israel's Arab parties, which ended Election Day with a historic boost.
Israel's parliamentary system requires parties to find enough common ground to assemble a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Parliament. Over the years, that has produced some unlikely alliances, but also shaky, short-lived governments. From 2019 to 2022, Israelis were sent to the polls five times as parties failed to hold a majority together, or to form one in the first place. With provisional results showing no bloc with a straightforward path to a coalition, party leaders face bitter negotiations or possible deadlock and another election.
For Mr. Netanyahu's opponents, securing a majority increasingly appears to depend on support from at least some Arab lawmakers. If opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's coalition included both Arab parties, the Joint List and Raam, it would have a significant majority. Such a coalition would carry political risks, since Mr. Eisenkot has rejected alliances with parties that do not support Israel's Jewish character or the defeat of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A minority government backed by Arab lawmakers is another option, but it is unclear whether those parties would agree to support a government from which they were excluded.
A unity government led by Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot could offer a path to a clear majority, though it could prove uneasy for both leaders. Preliminary results give one such bloc 66 seats, a clear but shaky governing majority. Defections, not uncommon in Israeli politics, could also reshape the outcome in the coming weeks of political wrangling.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing