JERUSALEM (AP) – The final results of Israel’s fourth election in two years show a nation deeply divided over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should remain in office, with neither side obtaining a majority in the government.
Israelis vote on party lists rather than candidates, and seats in the 120-member Knesset are allocated based on the percentage of votes. No Israeli party has ever won a 61-seat majority, so an aspiring prime minister must form a governing coalition.
This usually means courting marginal parties or even those on the other side of the political spectrum, offering ministries, official positions, budgets or other favors in exchange for your support. Negotiations usually take several weeks. If no one can muster a majority of 61 seats, the country will enter an unprecedented fifth election later this year.
Here are the final results of the electoral commission:
PRO-NETANYAHU, 52 seats
Likud (right): 30
Shas (ultra-orthodox): 9
United Torah Judaism (ultra-orthodox): 7
Religious Zionism (far right): 6
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ANTI-NETANYAHU, 57 seats
Yesh Atid (centrist): 17
Blue and white (centrist): 8
Yisrael Beitenu (secular law): 7
Work (left): 7
New Hope (right): 6
Joint List (Arab Left): 6
Meretz (left): 6
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NON-COMMITTED, 11 seats
Yamina (right): 7
United Arab List (Islamic Arab): 4