Israel completes Knesset election vote count: Netanyahu's bloc leads, but no one has a majority

Vote Count Results

Israel's Central Elections Committee has completed the vote count in the Knesset elections, as reported by Ynet, citing these data Gazeta.uz. The distribution of seats has not changed compared to preliminary results: the bloc of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won 53 mandates, the opposition bloc of Gadi Eisenkot — 48, and the Arab parties — 19.

Distribution of Mandates Among Parties

Within Netanyahu's bloc, the Likud party won 27 mandates, Otzma Yehudit and Yahadut HaTorah — 7 each, Religious Zionism and Zeut — 6 each, and SHAS — 6. In the opposition bloc, the Yashar! party took 21 mandates, Beyachad — 12, the Democrats — 8, and Yisrael Beiteinu — 7. Among the Arab parties, the Joint List won 11 mandates and RAAM — 8.

Turnout and the Absence of a Majority

Turnout in the election was 77.9% — 5,716,665 votes. According to the outlet, this is the highest figure in recent decades. Despite Netanyahu's bloc's lead, forming a government requires 61 mandates, and none of the sides achieved this result.

What Happens Next

As BBC News notes, the country is entering the coalition-building stage. The President will hold talks with party leaders and task the candidate who can secure the support of a majority of Knesset members with forming a new government. The coalition must be formed within 28 days, with the deadline extendable by another 14 days if necessary.

If No Agreement Is Reached

If the designated candidate fails to form a government within the set deadline, the President may hand the task to another candidate. If the second attempt also fails, Knesset members may ask the President to name a third candidate. If agreement is still not reached after that, new parliamentary elections will be called in the country.