Israel faces coalition hurdles after Netanyahu’s setback

Author: CARA ANNA | IBRAHIM HAZBOUN

Israel’s final election results confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority and that weeks of difficult negotiations among very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox Jewish to secular to Arab-led, lie ahead.

The results released early Friday showed Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday’s election. The main opposition bloc won 48.

Arab-led parties secured the other 19, a historic showing. Now parties must meet, bargain and seek a way to team up for at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, remains in charge.

“Now comes the truly hard part,” centrist politician Yair Lapid said on X, urging patience and adding: “If you want to know if something’s happening behind the silence you’re hearing now, the answer is yes.” Difficult decisions lie ahead. Will the main opposition parties that campaigned hard to unseat the divisive Netanyahu make the politically sensitive choice to partner with Arab-led ones? Or will they toss their vows aside to team up with Netanyahu in a potentially fractious unity Government?

Friday is when much of Israel starts winding down for Shabbat, and it was not clear who might be meeting with whom. Israelis debated possible coalitions and challenges, as some expressed traditional wariness around Arab parties and others insisted it was time for Israel to take a deep breath and embrace them. “There are options for all of this, not like in the United States, where there are only two parties,” said Beny Engalrd, a resident of Tel Aviv.

The election results still need to be certified and submitted to the president next Wednesday. Then President Isaac Herzog will task someone with forming the new Government. That could be the leader of the party that received the most votes — Netanyahu —or whoever the leaders of the various parties believe is best suited.

If multiple attempts to form a Government fail, Israel faces a new election early next year.

Herzog this week said he will do everything in his power to avoid that scenario. In the hours before final results were announced, Netanyahu and his Likud party amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, potentially with foreign assistance. The opposition quickly accused Netanyahu of demonising the Arab population, which makes up 20 per cent of the population and showed up at the polls like never before in outrage over Netanyahu’s far-right allies like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. His party lost seats.