JERUSALEM (AP) – The final election results show Israel in a political stalemate once again, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents falling short of a majority in the government.
The Israeli electoral commission says that, with 100% of the votes counted, the right-wing Likud party of Netanyahu and its natural allies won 52 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, with 120 seats. An ideologically diverse range of parties committed to his removal won 57 seats.
A right-wing party won seven seats and an Arab Islamic party won four. Both are not compromised, but given the many rivalries in parliament, it is unclear whether any of them would be able to obtain the necessary majority.
Party leaders have already started negotiations that are expected to drag on for weeks. If no one is able to muster a majority of at least 61 seats, then Israel will go to the elections for the unprecedented fifth time in just over two years.
Tuesday’s vote, Israel’s fourth parliamentary election in two years, was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s ability to govern while he is under prosecution.
Deep divisions between the various parties will make it difficult for either side to obtain a majority.
Arab parties have never joined a government coalition, and for nationalist parties, such an alliance is anathema. Bezalel Smotrich, an ally of Netanyahu and head of the far-right Zionist religious party, said on Thursday that “a right-wing government will not be established with the support of Abbas. Time course. Not on my watch. ”
He was referring to Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab Emirates List, who won four seats.
Gideon Saar, a defector from Netanyahu’s Likud who now leads a six-seat party committed to removing him, said “it is clear that Netanyahu does not have a majority to form a government under his leadership. Actions must now be taken to realize the possibility of forming a government for change. “
Likud, which won the highest number of seats of any party, retaliated, saying that such a bloc would be “undemocratic”. He compared Netanyahu’s opponents to the clerical leadership of Israel’s archenemy, Iran, which examines candidates for high office.
Yohanan Plesner, president of Israel’s Institute of Democracy, said the stalemate was “Israel’s worst political crisis in decades”.
“It is clear that our political system finds it very difficult to produce a decisive result,” said Plesner. He added that the weaknesses inherent in Israel’s electoral system are compounded by the “Netanyahu factor”: a popular prime minister struggling to stay in power while on charges. “Israelis are split in half on this issue.”
Several of Netanyahu’s opponents have begun to discuss advancing a bill to disqualify a politician on charges of being charged with forming a government, a move that aims to bar the long-term prime minister’s mandate. A similar bill was introduced after the March 2020 elections, but was never passed.
Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and taking bribes in three cases. He denied any wrongdoing and called the accusations a witch hunt by police and the media biased.
Despite the accusations against him, Netanyahu’s Likud party received about a quarter of the vote, making it the largest party in parliament. A total of 13 parties received enough votes to enter the Knesset – the largest since the 2003 election – and represent a variety of ultra-Orthodox, Arab, secular, nationalist and liberal factions.