Jerusalem: Anxious citizens across Israel monitored updating vote counts on Wednesday following a high-turnout election that served as a sharp rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right administration. Early projections indicate a stalemate, signaling that lengthy coalition talks likely lie ahead.
While Arab-led political factions recorded major gains, it remains uncertain if opposition leaders will align with them to assemble a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Relations and political partnerships with Arab parties, representing descendants of Palestinians who stayed after 1948, remain deeply sensitive across the electorate.
Speaking early Wednesday, Netanyahu took a hard line against bringing Arab-led factions into his political calculus, framing such alliances as a threat to the nation.
“We must establish a strong, right-wing, nationalist government,” Netanyahu said. “We must not endanger Israel and establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties.”
Netanyahu’s central challenger, centrist candidate and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, hinted at an openness to collaborate with Arab parties under specific conditions, such as their explicit recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the classification of Hamas as an extremist organization. However, several potential coalition partners have resisted this idea, leaving open the question of whether Opposition figures will compromise to unseat Netanyahu.
With two-thirds of the votes counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party secured 21%, while Eisenkot’s Yashar party stood at 16.1%. Likud’s tally marks a decline from its 23.4% performance in the 2022 elections.
Despite public grief and frustration originating from the October 7, 2023 attack and the subsequent three-year war, Opposition parties did not secure a decisive victory to immediately remove Netanyahu. Nevertheless, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a polarizing figure who frequently taunted Palestinian detainees and claimed many in Gaza were “not even people”, suffered notable setbacks.
Voter turnout reached 77.7%, marking the highest participation rate in over two decades. Final results will take days to solidify as officials count absentee ballots from diplomats, service personnel and other specialized groups.
Initial television exit polls suggested both Netanyahu’s bloc and Eisenkot’s alignment were projected to hold roughly 51 seats each, with Arab-led parties capturing about 18. This distribution leaves no group with an immediate 61-seat majority, raising the prospect of intense negotiations or a return to the polls.
Delivering an early morning address centered on national cohesion, Eisenkot pledged to establish a coalition, promising “a new era, an era of hope.”
Meanwhile, Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, pushed for inclusivity, writing on X,
“We have no future here if we do not stop being afraid. And if we do not stop the racism. We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes.”
Atmospheres varied sharply across party headquarters. At the United Arab List, the only Arab party to briefly join a governing coalition in 2021, supporters celebrated the surge in turnout.
“We are here, we are not on the sidelines,” party leader Mansour Abbas declared.
The political impasse has left many voters uncertain about the path forward.
“I feel that the country is pretty stuck,” said Hanna Doukhan, a voter in Tel Aviv. “We are little by little coming to a situation where we have to face reality. … I don’t see a possibility to form a government without the Arabs.”
Should leaders fail to assemble a majority, Israel could face yet another snap election early next year, recalling the series of five elections held between 2019 and 2022 during a similar period of political gridlock.