TEL AVIV – Results continue to come in from Israel’s election, with more than 77% of votes now counted. Incumbent PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc still holds 54 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc has gained another two seats, bringing its total to 49. Neither bloc appears positioned to secure the 61 seats needed to form a government.
Netanyahu is long associated with dramatic political comebacks, and this time calls Likud’s position as largest party. His existing partnership of right-wing nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties still lacked enough projected seats to secure power on its own. The uncertainty recalls Israel’s 1996 election, when an apparent victory for Shimon Peres gave way overnight to Netanyahu’s first rise to the premiership.
| Political bloc | Projected seats | Seats short of majority |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc | 54 | 7 |
| Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc | 49 | 12 |
| Arab-led parties — Joint List and Ra’am | 17 | — |
| Total Knesset seats | 120 | |
| Majority required | 61 |
Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, is facing challenge to turn opposition to Netanyahu into a workable parliamentary alliance. For the Arab parties, it is whether their electoral strength can translate into political influence. Until the remaining ballots are counted, Israel’s next government remains an unresolved contest of numbers, alliances and competing claims to victory.
The current results are provisional and may change as more votes are counted. Two Arab political alliances are contesting this Israeli election. One is the Joint Arab List, comprising Hadash, Balad and Ta’al, while the other is the smaller Ra’am, or United Arab List, an Islamist party.
According to Israel’s Central Elections Committee, Joint Arab List has received 9.11% of the votes counted so far, while Ra’am has secured 4.74%. Although these parties could hold a significant number of seats, it remains unclear whether other political parties would be willing to form a coalition government with them.
Most Arab citizens of Israel are descendants of Palestinians who remained in their communities during the war surrounding Israel’s establishment in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians were expelled from their homes or forced to flee.
Joint List is an alliance of secular parties. It supports equal rights for Arab citizens of Israel, an end to Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before the election, the alliance said it wanted to secure an influential position within the opposition. It also shows that it could provide an electoral “safety net” to political groups seeking to replace Netanyahu’s government, provided its demands were met on issues such as gang crime, a major concern for Arab Israelis.
Ra’am, meanwhile, emerged as part of Israel’s Islamic Movement and holds socially conservative views. Its leader, Mansour Abbas, is nevertheless known for cooperating with Jewish political partners. He prioritises addressing the problems facing Arab Israelis and speaks relatively less about Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. In an unexpected move during this election, he placed Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish former police officer and centrist politician, second on his party’s electoral list.
Now, 30 years later, vote counting is continuing and the results are constantly shifting. But Netanyahu, widely known as “Bibi”, and his Likud party and right-wing nationalist allies appear to be winning more seats than exit polls predicted.
Netanyahu is claiming that his party has emerged as the largest. Yet, for now, his party has lost seats, while his allies are in an even weaker position. His main rival, the relatively new political figure Gadi Eisenkot, also appears to have limited prospects of securing the required 61-seat majority.
Should Arab-majority parties, which appear set to win a record number of seats, be part of the process of bringing about a change in government? Netanyahu’s bloc describes this as a threat to the Jewish state of Israel, while others argue that it is a requirement of the democratic process.
Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former army chief, is a prominent figure in the “change bloc”. However, Israel’s veteran Prime Minister Netanyahu has also performed better than expected, with his Likud party emerging as the largest single party. Netanyahu’s existing coalition, which includes ultra-Orthodox and nationalist Jewish parties, appears to be some distance short of the simple majority of 61 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament.
Analysts believe situation could shift as results continue to come in rapidly, because the initial counting took place in areas known for strong right-wing support. Turnout in the latest election exceeded a record 77%. Even so, a dramatic political deadlock had been widely predicted.
Netanyahu, Eisenkot vie for power as Israel election indicates tight contest
According to partial results, Arab-led parties appear on course to win around 19 seats, potentially making them a crucial factor in the parliamentary balance of power.
Partial results indicate that these Arab parties have matched or exceeded their previous record seat totals. Most Arab Israelis are descendants of Palestinians who remained in their communities during the 1948 war, when Israel was established, while hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and forced to flee.
Israel was heading towards a tense battle over government formation on Wednesday, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc retaining its lead but falling short of a parliamentary majority, while Arab parties emerged as potentially decisive players in the struggle for power.
Two Arab-led electoral lists are central to the unfolding arithmetic: the Joint Arab List, comprising Hadash, Balad and Ta’al, and Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List. In the partial figures cited during counting, the Joint Arab List received 9.11% of counted votes, while Ra’am secured 4.74%.
Although their combined seat projection slipped from 19 to 17, the parties could still play a crucial role in determining whether an alternative government becomes possible. The obstacle is political willingness. It remains uncertain whether other parties would accept a governing arrangement dependent on their support.
Netanyahu has sought to turn that question into a central dividing line, accusing his rivals of seeking a “dangerous government” with Arab parties. His camp portrays such cooperation as a threat to Israel’s Jewish identity, while supporters of Arab participation argue that elected representatives should have a role in determining the country’s leadership.
Joint List brings together secular parties advocating equal rights for Arab citizens of Israel, an end to the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories and a two-state solution. Before the election, it sought an influential opposition role and indicated that it could provide parliamentary backing to forces seeking to replace Netanyahu, subject to demands on issues affecting Arab communities, including gang violence.
Ra’am has a different political background. Rooted in Israel’s Islamic Movement, it combines socially conservative positions with leader Mansour Abbas’s willingness to cooperate with Jewish political partners.
Abbas concentrated on practical concerns facing Arab citizens of Israel, placing comparatively less emphasis on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Most Arab citizens of Israel descend from Palestinians who remained during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s establishment, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
Netanyahu, Eisenkot vie for power as Israel election indicates tight contest
