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Earlier on this story27 Oct: Israel Votes In Legislative Election With Netanyahu’s Survival On The Line Against Eisenkot3 more

Israeli Politicsupdated 32m ago2 min read

Arab Parties Become Kingmakers as Netanyahu Bloc Falls Short in Israel Election

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Arab-led parties projected to win historic 17–19 seats and become kingmakers. Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot blocs reach 61-seat majority, triggering coalition negotiations.

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Deadlock after election

Israel’s Tuesday election left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc short of a parliamentary majority, with nearly 86 per cent of votes tallied and projected seats of 53 in the 120-seat Knesset versus 48 for Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc. President Isaac Herzog urged parties to keep “an open mind” as more than 85 percent of ballots were counted and neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot looked set to reach the 61-seat threshold.

Netanyahu framed the choice as a “strong right-wing nationalist government,” while Eisenkot’s camp argued that “The public voted for change” and urged Netanyahu to step down. The election’s outcome put Arab parties into a kingmaker role, with early projections showing Arab-led lists at 19 seats and leaving Eisenkot “little realistic path to power without their broad backing.”

Reporting for this sectionSouth China Morning PostAFP

Arab parties as leverage

Yousef Jabareen said the Israeli public had voted for new leadership and argued that “anyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu's blood-soaked government will have to talk to us.” Mansour Abbas told Israel’s Channel 12 that “With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” as he said he hoped the final results would allow the anti-Netanyahu bloc to win the 61 seats required to form a government.

Alon Pinkas said Arab parties could face “a price to pay” because “the “Arabs can’t be kept outside and only being considered and co-opted when you need their votes.” ABC News reported that Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister while negotiations lasted for several weeks, with Herzog tasked with offering the chance to form a government to the leader he believed had the best chance.

Reporting for this sectionAFPAl Jazeera

What happens next

Haaretz described the dilemma for Netanyahu’s liberal supporters in the United States, saying Netanyahu could remain in power despite his bloc falling short of a majority in Tuesday’s election. Al-Hurra said contacts had begun between parties ahead of meeting Herzog to recommend a deputy to be tasked with forming the government, and it quoted Ya’ir Gol’an calling for speeding up a government in partnership with Arab members of the Knesset.

Aharon Briggman said a national unity government in which Netanyahu and Eisenkot alternate as prime minister was “currently the most likely scenario,” while Al-Hurra said Netanyahu warned against any step that would rely on Arab non-Zionist lists. The stakes extended to foreign policy, as ABC reported that France said the election outcome would not derail the search for a two-state solution, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying, “Our course will not change.”

Reporting for this sectionHaaretzABC