Israel vote count leaves Netanyahu and Eisenkot short of a Knesset majority

All remaining votes are absentee ballots, Israeli media say

With almost all votes counted in Israel’s Oct. 28 election, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government had lost its majority, while his main opponents, an alliance of Jewish Israeli parties unofficially led by Gadi Eisenkot, also had failed to gain an outright majority. The Guardian said exit polls had suggested the major blocs were neck and neck, while Israeli media projections put Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 seats and Eisenkot’s bloc at 48. Palestinian parties had 19 projected seats, and the Knesset required 61 to form a governing majority.

The count was not yet final. Israeli media said the votes still to be counted consisted of absentee ballots. The absentee ballots were expected to be counted Wednesday night, with final results due by Thursday, and the seat projections could still change.

Netanyahu addressed supporters at a post-election rally in Jerusalem just after 3am. He told them that official results would show that “Likud is the largest party in Israel.” Netanyahu said the country must “establish a strong, rightwing national government” and added that a government relying on Palestinian-party support must not be formed.

Eisenkot addressed cheering supporters in Tel Aviv, saying the “Israeli public has voted against Netanyahu’s service as Israel’s prime minister … a worthy leader would have accepted the people’s non-confidence and announced today his retirement from politics.” Eisenkot also warned Netanyahu not to “use Israel’s security” for political ends. The Guardian said his warning played on fears that Netanyahu could use the period of uncertainty to launch a new attack on Iran.

The main coalition question was whether Eisenkot’s Change bloc would partner with Palestinian Israeli parties, resort to a new election or work with Netanyahu. The Guardian characterized the alliance as comprising Naftali Bennett’s rightwing Together party, Yair Golan’s centre-left Democrats and the rightwing Yisrael Beiteinu party.

Palestinian Israeli parties recorded a historically strong vote. The Joint List, a new ticket of several Arab-majority parties, took at least 12 seats, while Ra’am, the other Islamic party, won seven.

The Guardian said the Palestinian Israeli vote, representing about 20% of the population, had long been seen as decisive in determining who could form a government. It attributed the election’s high turnout to the community experiencing increased racism and discrimination under Netanyahu’s government.

Turnout was the highest in Israel’s political history, according to The Guardian. Many Israelis flew back into the country to cast their votes, and nearly 80% of IDF soldiers voted.

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Whether Eisenkot’s Change bloc would seek Palestinian-party support, resort to a new election or work with Netanyahu remained the central coalition question. The projected split raised the prospect of potentially lengthy coalition talks, The Guardian said.