Netanyahu bloc misses majority as final Israel election count ends

Israel’s Central Elections Committee (CEC) released final vote tallies on Friday, 30 October, confirming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party as the largest in the Knesset, though his right-wing bloc failed to secure a governing majority. The final count, including all double-envelope ballots, gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats and the opposition 48, leaving both sides short of the 61-seat threshold required to lead the 120-member parliament. Arab parties emerge as kingmakers The results position Arab parties as the decisive powerbrokers after they captured a combined 19 seats. Within Netanyahu’s 53-seat bloc, Likud holds 27 seats, followed by United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit with seven seats each, and Shas and the Religious Zionist Party with six seats each. These figures reflect a stronger performance for Likud than pre-election television polls had anticipated. Attention now turns to President Isaac Herzog, who is scheduled to consult with party representatives following the formal publication of these results. Herzog will nominate the candidate he deems most likely to form a stable coalition. If that candidate fails to secure a majority within the legal timeframe, a second candidate may be tasked, or the country could be forced into another general election. Obstacles to unity and fraud claims A theoretical unity government comprising Likud and opposition figures like Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Lieberman could command 66 seats. However,…