The Israeli election in figures

According to the partial results published by the Israeli Central Elections Committee, with 84.5 per cent of the votes counted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc stands at 54 seats, whilst the opposition coalition led by Gadi Eisenkot has fallen to 49 and the Arab parties have risen to 17. The two Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, have therefore strengthened their parliamentary representation, bringing the total number of seats allocated to the forces opposed to Netanyahu to 66. However, this is merely a theoretical majority, and forming a governing coalition based on it appears, for the time being, to be politically very difficult. Eisenkot has, in fact, ruled out Ra’am’s participation in a government led by him, whilst other opposition leaders have also declared themselves opposed to a government supported from the outside by the Arab parties.

This stance contrasts with that of the leader of the Democrats, Yair Golan, whose party is part of Eisenkot’s coalition holding eight seats; he has instead called on the opposition bloc to work with the Arab parties to form an alternative government to Netanyahu’s.

An absolute majority in the Knesset, which comprises 120 members, requires at least 61 seats. The Reservists’ Party, on 2.6 per cent, the People of Israel, on 1.6 per cent, and the Ultra-Orthodox Public, on 0.2 per cent, remain below the 3.25 per cent electoral threshold. The results are still provisional: votes cast using the so-called ‘double envelopes’ – including those of military personnel – still need to be counted.