Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led bloc emerged from this week’s election as the largest force but fell short of a governing majority, leaving rival Gadi Eisenkot with the challenge of assembling an alternative coalition or risking another election.
According to the latest reported vote count, Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition holds 53 seats — eight short of the 61 needed for a majority. The main opposition bloc has 48 seats, while the Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List hold a combined 19.
Netanyahu remains in office as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. His party is again the largest single faction, with Likud on 27 seats. Eisenkot’s Yashar party secured 21 seats.
Eisenkot must now convert numerical opposition to Netanyahu into a workable governing majority. Combining his 48-seat bloc with Ra’am’s eight seats would reach 56; adding the Joint List’s 11 would reach 67. However, key allies within the opposition, including Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu and Naftali Bennett’s party, have opposed relying on the Arab factions.
Liberman’s party has publicly rejected joining any government led by Netanyahu and criticised talk of a minority government backed by Arab parties during the campaign. Bennett, who previously led a government that included Ra’am, faces pressure over whether to accept a junior role under Eisenkot.
President Isaac Herzog is expected to receive the official results next week, consult party leaders and decide whom to task with forming a government. The mandate holder will have 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to negotiate a coalition.
Herzog has called on party leaders to approach the process with an open mind and avoid another election. In the meantime, Netanyahu continues to head the executive branch while rival parties seek agreements that could unseat him.
