JERUSALEM: Israel's Central Elections Committee on Wednesday officially certified the results of last week's parliamentary elections, confirming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political bloc has failed to secure a majority in the Knesset.
The committee approved the results after reviewing allegations of electoral irregularities and found no evidence of fraud that could have compromised the election or changed its outcome. The results were subsequently handed over to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday.
The final results show that Netanyahu's bloc secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, falling eight short of the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority. The opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats, while Arab-led parties secured a record 19 seats.
Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21 seats. However, neither of the two main political blocs has secured enough seats to form a government independently.
Following the certification, President Herzog began consultations with political party representatives to determine who is best positioned to form the next government. Under Israel's political system, the president assigns the task of forming a government to the candidate considered most likely to secure parliamentary support.
The election results mark a significant setback for Netanyahu, whose governing coalition held 68 seats in the outgoing Knesset. The increased representation of Arab-led parties could prove crucial in the negotiations over the formation of the next government.
Netanyahu, however, has not automatically lost his position as prime minister. He will remain in office while political parties negotiate to form a new governing coalition. If no candidate succeeds, Israel could face another election.