Partial results from Israel’s general election show veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marginally ahead of his rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, but still short of a majority in parliament.
With 97% of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies were on track to win 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Eisenkot’s Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc were set for 48.
Both leaders have said they will try to form a governing coalition.
Arab-led parties, which are on course to win an unprecedented 19 seats, could emerge as kingmakers. But all but one of the Jewish parties have pledged not to work with them.
On Thursday, officials began counting as many as 480,000 absentee ballots from groups including soldiers, diplomats and hospital patients, who could not get to polling stations.
These votes may change the final number of seats allotted to each party under Israel’s proportional representation system.
Once the results are confirmed, President Isaac Herzog will hold consultations with all the political factions and invite the leader whom he believes has the best chance of success to form a government – a process that could take weeks.
If they fail, then ultimately there would have to be another election.
During a meeting at his residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Herzog praised the 77.7% turnout in the previous day’s election, which was the highest in more than two decades.
He added that he expected to receive the official results next week, after which he would begin discussions with every faction.
Both the prime minister and his main rival have insisted that they should be tasked with forming a governing coalition.
Credit: bbc.com
