JERUSALEM (AP) — The final results of Israel’s elections confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies have lost their parliamentary majority and that weeks of difficult negotiations between very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox Jews to secularists to Arabs, lie ahead.
Results released Friday morning show Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday’s election. The main opposition bloc won 48. Arab parties won the other 19, a historic result. The parties must now meet, negotiate and find a way to unite to obtain at least 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, remains in charge.
“Now comes the really hard part,” centrist politician Yair Lapid said on
The president will task someone with forming a government
Difficult decisions await us. Will the main opposition parties that waged a fierce campaign to oust the divisive Netanyahu make the politically sensitive choice to join forces with those led by Arabs? Or will they put aside their wishes to team up with Netanyahu in a potentially divisive unity government?
Israel closes Friday for the Jewish Sabbath, and it was unclear who would be able to meet who. Israelis debated possible coalitions and challenges, with some expressing their traditional distrust of Arab parties, while others insisted it was time for Jewish-led parties to embrace them.
WATCH: What’s next for Israel after elections produce political deadlock
“There are options for all of this, not like in the United States, where there are only two parties,” said Tel Aviv resident Beny Engalrd.
The election results must still be certified and submitted to the president next Wednesday. Then President Isaac Herzog will task someone with forming the new government. It could be the leader of the party that received the most votes – Netanyahu – or who the leaders of the different parties believe is best placed.
If several attempts to form a government fail, Israel will face new elections early next year. Herzog said this week he would do everything in his power to avoid that scenario.
Netanyahu and Likud target Arab parties without evidence
In the hours before the final results were announced, Netanyahu and his Likud party amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, potentially with foreign aid.
The opposition quickly accused Netanyahu of demonizing Arab citizens, who make up 20% of the population and who turned out to vote like never before in a sign of outrage at his far-right government.
On Friday, Netanyahu again warned against forming a coalition with Arab parties.
LEARN MORE: Netanyahu’s party says Israeli election was ‘stolen’ as results show he lost majority
The head of Israel’s election committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said “serious suspicions” of foreign interference had been brought to his attention. In a letter to the Shin Bet security agency, Sohlberg said he could not verify the claims but asked the agency to investigate.
Israeli media reported that members of Netanyahu’s party accused Qatar of being involved, allegations the Gulf state called “ridiculous and dangerous.” Many Israelis view Qatar as a patron of Hamas, while Qatar says its relations with the militant group are part of its U.S.-backed mediation efforts in the region.
The election commission said the investigation was based on classified intelligence. Acting chief executive Dean Livne did not give details but warned that reports of the investigation were “totally unfounded.”
“This does not affect the final results that will be submitted to the president, nor does it concern a particular sector of the population,” he said.
WATCH: Projections show no clear winner in Israeli elections
By casting doubt on the vote, Netanyahu appeared to be attempting to block any potential alliance between his opponents and Arab parties. Netanyahu has suggested it would be a betrayal for his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, or others to join them.
The Shin Bet, seeking to ease tensions, said its investigation was not intended to “cast slander” on an entire section of the population who “exercised their right to vote in a democratic and legal manner.”
The electoral commission also issued a warning in a letter written to a concerned lawmaker, saying “allegations of systematic violations of electoral integrity are baseless.”
The commission wants to obtain the conclusions of the Shin Bet within a week.
The opposition could take control of the next Knesset
Even if coalition negotiations begin, the new Knesset is expected to be sworn in on November 10. Once reunited, Eisenkot’s bloc could join forces with Arab parties to elect a new Knesset speaker, giving them control of the parliamentary agenda and potentially allowing them to advance and pass laws before a new government is formed.
Already, hundreds of Israelis have held rallies calling on Eisenkot and others to join forces with Arab-led parties, a step that has only happened once before, briefly, in 2021.
WATCH: A retired Israeli general on what the election results tell us
“I think we should join forces and cooperate with Arab parties, a legitimate population in the State of Israel,” said Jaffa resident Miri Sklair.
Issa Jaber Abu-Ghosh, a former mayor of an Arab village outside Jerusalem, said that “Israel still claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East” but that it is not a “real democracy” if its politics remain divided between Jews and Arabs.
If Netanyahu were to lose office, it would set off a cascade of events that critics say he has been desperate to avoid. He would be politically weakened as he faces an ongoing corruption trial, and a formal investigation into security failures surrounding the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack would almost certainly be launched.
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