Israel Election: Netanyahu Bloc Leads With 53 Seats

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp is projected to win 53 seats in the Knesset, according to preliminary results released by Israel’s Central Elections Committee on Wednesday. The figures are based on nearly five million counted ballots. His Likud party is expected to take 26 of those seats. United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit are each projected to secure seven seats. The Religious Zionist Party is expected to win six.

The opposition bloc is projected to capture 48 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party leads that group with 21 seats. B’Yachad, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, is expected to win 12 seats. Yair Golan’s Democrats are projected to take eight, while Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu is expected to secure seven. Arab parties are projected to hold 19 seats in total. The Joint List is expected to win 12, and Ra’am is projected to take seven.

Neither bloc currently holds the 61 seats required for a majority. A joint government between Netanyahu and Eisenkot appears unlikely because Eisenkot has refused to serve under the prime minister, even in a rotation arrangement. Other opposition leaders have also ruled out joining a coalition led by Netanyahu. Eisenkot has called for the leader of the largest opposition party to become the candidate for prime minister, but no agreement has been reached.

Exit polls suggested a minority government might pass a confidence vote without 61 seats, though resistance within the opposition bloc to relying on Arab parties complicates that path. The deadlock could lead to another election if coalition talks fail. Yair Golan argued that Netanyahu’s camp lost by counting the Arab parties. He stated that the opposition reaches 65 seats, which is more than half of the 120-member Knesset. “Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That’s how Israeli democracy works. Period,” Golan wrote on Wednesday morning.

Golan added that if Netanyahu considered a strictly Zionist bloc, he should subtract the 16 members of the non-Zionist Haredi parties from his own camp. Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen said his party is ready to help remove the current government. He described the alternative as a partnership between Jewish and Arab citizens. In an interview with Army Radio, Ahmad Tibi of Hadash-Ta’al signaled openness to working with the opposition. “The opposition bloc will be able to form a government if it has the courage. We are extending a hand and are ready to help,” Tibi said.

Coalition talks are expected to begin in the coming days to determine whether a governing majority can be assembled or if voters will return to the polls.