Published on •Updated
Final results from Israel’s crucial parliamentary elections this week showed there was no clear winner, with the two main blocs falling far short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc finished with 53 seats, while the opposition camp, led by rival Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party, finished with 48.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party remained the largest party, with 27 seats, while the Arab parties combined won a record 19 seats.
The result means Israel now faces a long and likely delicate period of negotiations as party leaders struggle to form a government. If he didn’t, Israelis would go back to the polls.
‘Ra’am-gate’
Netanyahu accused Arab parties of “stealing” the elections, calling on police and Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, to conduct a “thorough investigation into electoral fraud.”
The Likud party also claimed that foreign funding was used to influence voters in the election. The allegations centered on allegations that the Raam Party received money from Qatar.
“The ‘Ra’am-gate’ scandal is an earthquake. The Israeli elections were stolen,” Likud said in a statement on Thursday.
Raam party leader Mansour Abbas reportedly denied any wrongdoing and said he would welcome an investigation.
In a social media post, Eisenkot said foreign interference was “unacceptable and extremely serious” and called on the Shin Bet to investigate the allegations “thoroughly and immediately, without bias.”
Next steps
Going forward, Israeli President Isaac Herzog will consult with party leaders elected to the Knesset before assigning the task of attempting to form a government to the candidate he believes has the best chance of garnering sufficient support to do so.
According to Israeli law, this person will have 28 days to complete the work. The president may extend this period by a maximum of 14 days if necessary.
If that fails, the president can give a second leader the chance to form a government, this time within a maximum of 28 days. If this second round also fails, the Knesset could then request the candidacy of a third candidate. They would have 14 days to complete the task.
If all attempts fail, new elections are called.
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