Anxious Israelis watched election results near completion Wednesday, as no clear winner emerged and weeks of negotiating could lie ahead for Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and an array of opposition parties trying to unseat him.
uncertain
weeks → watch → him
Arab-led parties put up a historic showing, but it's not clear if the other opponents of Netanyahu's far-right govt would form a coalition with them for a majority of seats in parliament.
asserted
opponents → lead → parliament
Issues around the Palestinians and their descendants remain sensitive in Israel.
asserted
Issues → remain → Israel
In defiant comments - which showed his Likud party losing ground since 2022 election - Netanyahu dismissed the idea of partnering with Arab parties as treasonous.
asserted
Netanyahu → show → parties
He won't work with the Arab-led parties, whose constituents make up 20% of Israel's population, and they have also ruled out any partnership.
asserted
they → work → partnership
His top challenger, centrist former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, has left the door open to partnering with Arab parties under certain conditions, including their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and of Hamas as an extremist group.
asserted
challenger → leave → group
Emerging results indicated that neither Netanyahu's nor Eisenkot's coalition blocs would reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in 120-seat Knesset.
asserted
blocs → indicate → Knesset
Media projected 53 seats for Likud and allied parties, 48 for Yashar and allied parties and 19 for Arab-led parties.
asserted
Media → project → parties
With 85% of votes counted, Bibi’s party has 20.8%, Eisenkot’s 16.1%
Israeli voters choose parties, not individuals.
asserted
voters → count → parties
With 85% of votes counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party has 20.8% and Eisenkot’s Yashar party has 16.1%.
asserted
party → count → %
Arab-led parties had 14.9%.
asserted
parties → lead → %
It’s not clear whether some of Eisenkot’s likely partners who have ruled out such an alliance will change their minds to force Netanyahu from office.
asserted
who → ’ → office
Counting absentee ballots will last until Thursday evening.
asserted
Counting → count → evening
Nearly 78% of voters turned out, the highest since 1999.
asserted
% → turn → 1999
Voting reflected unease over Netanyahu’s alliance with the far-right and anger in a war-weary nation over military draft exemptions for the significant ultra-Orthodox Jewish population.
asserted
Voting → reflect → population
The Likud party’s share of the vote declined from 23.4% in 2022.
asserted
share → decline → 2022
But results suggest opponents were unable to capitalise on the grief caused by the Hamas-led Oct 7, 2023, attack to decisively push him from office.
asserted
opponents → suggest → office
One far-right partner losing support was national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
asserted
partner → lose → support
For many Israelis, he represented the worst strain of Netanyahu’s govt, openly taunting Palestinian detainees.
asserted
he → represent → detainees
Vote-counting suggested Likud would remain the largest party and most likely to be tapped to form a govt by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.
uncertain
Likud → suggest → president
The president, however, isn’t required to task the leader of the party holding the most seats.
asserted
president → require → seats
“We must do everything we can, to avoid another round of elections,” Herzog said.
asserted
Herzog → do → elections
The Aporia
