Israelis await final election results as Netanyahu's bloc holds slight edge
Final results could come as early as Thursday evening after absentee ballots are counted
Israelis on Thursday waited for final election results to confirm what they see taking shape: No majority of parliament seats for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, or for the array of parties seeking to unseat him.
uncertain
they → await → him
Difficult decisions lie in the weeks ahead, including whether some Jewish and Arab parties would team up in a historic alliance, or whether some parties that campaigned on ousting Netanyahu would toss that aside and join forces with the deeply divisive prime minister.
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that → lie → minister
While this plays out, Netanyahu remains in charge.
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Netanyahu → play → charge
Final results could come as early as Thursday evening after about a half-million absentee ballots are counted from military personnel, diplomats, people in prisons and hospitals, and others.
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ballots → come → prisons
They are not expected to sway the results dramatically.
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They → expect → results
Local media projected 53 parliament seats for Netanyahu's bloc, 48 seats for opposition parties and 19 for Arab-led ones, which also want Netanyahu out.
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which → project → Netanyahu
Arab parties offer Israel's political leaders a path to victory.
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parties → offer → victory
Why does no one want to take it?
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one → want → it
Israelis shatter turnout records in election that will pass wartime judgment on Netanyahu
The chief rival to Netanyahu, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, in his first public statement since an address to supporters early Wednesday, spoke of a government in service to all and reflecting the will of the people.
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rival → shatter → people
Israeli activists hold placards during a protest calling for a formation of a government together with Arab parties in Tel Aviv on Thursday, a day after Israel's legislative elections.
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activists → hold → elections
Eisenkot did not mention the prospect of joining forces with the Arab-led parties that had a strong showing, as some Arab citizens broke long-standing vows never to vote in a country where they have long faced discrimination.
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they → mention → discrimination
But he has said he is open to working with them to reach the 61-seat majority needed to control the 120-seat Knesset.
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he → say → Knesset
One of those Arab parties, the Joint List, late Wednesday noted the "unprecedented show of strength" and the Jewish voters "willing to swim against the tide of racism."
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voters → note → racism
It said it was open to political co-operation.
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it → say → operation
Rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
There were small rallies overnight in Tel Aviv, and in far more conservative Jerusalem, in support of a coalition that includes Arab-led parties.
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that → be → parties
Until 2021, no Arab party had joined a coalition government, and that was brief.
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that → join → government
Netanyahu's Likud party, despite receiving the most votes, has accused Arab-led parties of stealing the election and asked the election committee to investigate.
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party → receive → committee
It did not provide specific evidence to support its claims.
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It → provide → claims
The election committee has said the number of reported irregularities in the relatively calm election was low.
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number → say → election
Israel's president next week will task someone to form the next government.
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president → task → government
It has traditionally been the leader of the party with the most votes, but that's not required.
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that → require → votes
Final results could come as early as Thursday evening after about a half-million absentee ballots are counted from military personnel, diplomats, people in prisons and hospitals, and others.
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ballots → come → prisons
If a new government cannot be formed after multiple attempts, Israel would face a new election early next year.
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Israel → form → election
On Wednesday, President Isaac Herzog signalled he wanted to avoid that step — something Eisenkot has said as well.
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Eisenkot → signal → step
New elections bring new questions, including whether Arab citizens would again go to the polls in large numbers and whether the tens of thousands of Israelis who flew home to vote would do it again.
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who → bring → it
Many had said they took that step to save the country from Netanyahu.
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they → say → Netanyahu
Israel, already divided along multiple fault lines — Jews and Arabs, secular and religious — entered the election with huge and painful issues at stake.
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Israel → divide → stake
Those include whether the fast-growing, ultra-Orthodox population should remain exempted from compulsory military service in a country where many families have seen their sons and daughters killed in three years of inconclusive wars.
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sons → include → wars
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has been especially polarizing, with corruption allegations hanging over him, along with accusations that he delayed making deals over the war in Gaza, including to free hostages, for political gain.
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he → serve → gain
While many Israelis voted with security issues first in mind, the country's international standing is also at stake after widespread criticism over the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and growing violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
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standing → vote → Bank
Netanyahu 'fighting for his political life' in 1st Israeli vote since Oct. 7.
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Netanyahu → fight → Oct.
He might still survive
Israelis are leaving the country in record numbers.
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Israelis → survive → numbers
Could a looming election accelerate the trend?
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election → loom → trend
For Arab citizens, who make up 20 per cent of Israel's population, there is cautious hope of change.
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who → make → change
"God willing, we will have something for us in the government, something that will bring us our rights," said Brosli Elias, a resident of Nazareth, one of Israel's largest Arab cities.
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Elias → have → cities
Meanwhile, the threat of further strikes against Iran adds to the election uncertainty, as the Trump administration has spoken of new attacks after the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3.
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administration → add → Nov.
Experts have said Netanyahu could seize on the renewed all-out war to press for a unity government with him in charge.
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Netanyahu → say → charge
That could delay what Netanyahu has long resisted: a public inquiry into the security failures that led to the deadliest extremist attack on Israel in the country's history, the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
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which → delay → Gaza
The Aporia
