On Oct. 27, Israelis elected members of parliament for the 26th Knesset, the country’s unicameral legislative body.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a controversial political figure, even among Israelis. He is currently facing corruption charges, and he has been accused of trying to weaken the country’s justice system by attempting to take power away from the Supreme Court. 77.9% of eligible voters voted in the election, which is the highest turnout that Israel has seen in two decades.
To obtain a majority in the Knesset, a party or bloc needs at least 60 seats in the 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu’s bloc held a 64-seat majority after the 2022 elections, giving his government a significant amount of power.
This time around, no one bloc earned enough seats to hold a majority. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, of which his own party, Likud, won 27. He has fallen short of obtaining a majority in the Knesset, but so has the opposition.
Gadi Eisenkot, the center-right opposition leader, won 21 seats for his party, Yashar. The bloc made up of his party and parties aligned with his won an additional 27 seats, giving the alliance a total of 48 seats.
There are various Arab-led parties in Israel, and they won a total of 19 seats. Because none of the blocs have a majority, Netanyahu and Eisenkot both needed the favor of the Arab-led party factions, the Joint List and Ra’am, to have the chance to form the ruling coalition.
After every election, all elected parties must confer with President Isaac Herzog and recommend which leader to task with forming a government. This decision was between Netanyahu and Eisenkot. Both the Joint List and Ra’am have recommended Eisenkot to form the government, and Herzog made his final decision on Sunday, Oct. 8.
The Arab-led parties do not agree with most of Eisenkot’s policies, rather they see him as a lesser evil to the far-right Netanyahu. Eisenkot opposes the formation of an independent Palestinian state, but he has condemned the way in which some Israelis have built settlements in the West Bank. He argues that these settlements should still be formed, but should be done in a manner that is “legal,” according to Reuters. These Israeli settlements are considered illegal by most countries. He is also a critic of the ever-increasing number of violent attacks that have been committed against Palestinians.
Netanyahu has made accusations of voter fraud, claiming that the Arab-led parties gained as many seats as they did because of foreign interference led by Qatar. Doha has rejected these accusations, and Israel’s election commission announced that it found no wrongdoing.
Israeli politicians continue to deliberate. It is not yet certain whether Ra’am and the Joint List will join Eisenkot’s planned coalition, but a path towards some kind of deal is in the works. Ra’am’s leader, Mansour Abbas, has openly supported the disarmament of Hamas, condemning violence committed by the group, but he refused to label it as a terrorist group, which is a stance that a party must take to join Eisenkot’s coalition.
Once he is given the mandate, the chosen leader will have 28 days to form a government, and the president can allow him another two weeks if he needs more time. After he makes his decision, the Knesset will make a vote of confidence to decide on the next prime minister.
