Overview
- The Central Elections Committee’s final tally confirmed on Friday that neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition won 61 seats, leaving the Knesset split with Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 seats, Eisenkot’s at 48 and Arab parties holding 19 seats.
- Netanyahu and Likud publicly alleged that Arab lists and Qatar influenced the vote, prompting Noam Sohlberg, president of the electoral commission, to ask the internal security service Shin Bet to examine suspicious information.
- Shin Bet said it is investigating reported irregularities but that the probe will not presume to incriminate an entire community and will not change the certified results delivered to the president.
- The Arab parties’ strong showing gives Raam and the Joint List kingmaker power that could enable an opposition-led coalition or allow them to support legislation without formally joining a government, a dynamic that sharply divides many Jewish parties.
- President Isaac Herzog will hold formal consultations with party leaders to name a candidate to try to form a government, a process that can take weeks, may include legal challenges and could end in new elections if coalition talks fail.