Israeli Election Leaves 13 Seats Short of Governing Majority

No side in Israel’s recent election has secured the 61 seats required to command a majority in the Knesset. Figures released Wednesday by the Central Elections Committee, based on nearly five million counted votes, show a fragmented result that leaves both the governing and opposition camps short of a decisive lead.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to win 53 seats. His Likud party takes 26 of those. The remaining seats belong to United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit, which are each expected to gain seven, along with six for the Religious Zionist Party. The opposition bloc is projected at 48 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar leads that group with 21 seats. Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s B'Yachad is expected to win 12. Yair Golan’s Democrats and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu are projected to take eight and seven seats, respectively.

Arab parties are projected to hold 19 seats, with the Joint List taking 12 and Ra'am securing seven. The 13-seat gap between the two main blocs makes a stable government difficult to form. A unity deal between Netanyahu and Eisenkot appears unlikely, as Eisenkot has refused to serve under Netanyahu, even in a rotating arrangement. Other opposition leaders have also ruled out joining a coalition led by the Prime Minister.

Eisenkot has called for the leader of the largest opposition party to become the bloc’s prime ministerial candidate. However, the bloc has not reached an agreement on this point. Exit polls have suggested a minority government could pass a confidence vote without 61 seats, though internal resistance to relying on Arab parties may complicate that path. If talks fail, Israel may face another election.

Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, argued that the opposition holds the majority if Arab parties are included. "Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That’s how Israeli democracy works. Period," he wrote on Wednesday morning. He noted that if Netanyahu claims a Zionist bloc, he must subtract the 16 members of non-Zionist Haredi parties from his own camp. Golan stated the opposition has a responsibility to form a government of change in partnership with Arab citizens.

Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Joint List, said his party is ready to "pave the way for the ousting of the Netanyahu government." He described the alternative as a true and equal partnership between Jewish and Arab citizens. Ahmad Tibi, faction chairman of the Joint List, told Army Radio that the opposition can form a government if it has the courage. "We are extending a hand and are ready to help," he said.