JERUSALEM (AP) – Concerned Israelis watched the election results have taken shape Wednesday after many voters reprimanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu The country’s far-right government, with the highest turnout in more than a quarter of a century. Exit polls suggest there is no clear winner and weeks of negotiations could pass.
Arab-led parties appear to have made a historic performance, but it is not clear whether other opponents of the government, who according to polls will have a majority in the next parliament, would form a coalition with them. Issues concerning Palestinians and their descendants remain incredibly sensitive in Israel.
Netanyahu was defiant early Wednesday as he seeks to remain the country’s longest-serving prime minister. He dismissed the idea of partnering with Arab parties – whose voters make up 20% of the Israeli population – as a betrayal.
“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. »
His main challenger, the former centrist military leader Gadi Eisenkotleft the door open to a partnership with Arab parties under certain conditions, including their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and Hamas as an extremist group. Some likely partners, however, have ruled out this possibility. It remains to be seen whether they will change their minds to force Netanyahu from office.
With 66% of the votes counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party holds 21% and Eisenkot’s Yashar party holds 16.1%. One or the other should form a coalition. The tally from Israel’s Central Election Commission does not indicate how many seats each will have in parliament, the 120-seat Knesset. Likud’s share remained lower than in the previous 2022 elections, when it was 23.4%.
Netanyahu faces setback but not total defeat
The results suggest that Netanyahu’s opponents have been unable to capitalize on the anger and grief over the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and three years of war to decisively oust him.
But one of the losers was the far-right Minister of National Security. Itamar Ben-Gvirwhich, for many Israelis, represented the worst strain of Netanyahu’s government, openly mocking Palestinian detainees and claiming that many in Gaza are “not even people.”
Voter turnout was 77.7% of eligible voters, the highest since 1999. Final results are expected in the coming days, including those from the hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots that have not yet been counted. These include military personnel, diplomats and others.
The vote reflected many Israelis’ unease with Netanyahu’s alliance with the far right and their anger over exemptions granted to the large ultra-Orthodox Jewish population.
Exit polls from major Israeli television networks suggest that Netanyahu’s governing coalition has shrunk, but that Likud would remain the largest party and best placed for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to ask to form a government. The president, however, is not obligated to choose the party with the most seats.
Exit polls suggest that Netanyahu’s bloc and Eisenkot’s bloc each won about 51 seats, and Arab parties won about 18. That sets the stage for weeks of political negotiations before a prime minister is chosen — or another round of elections is called.
The simplest path to a parliamentary majority would involve Eisenkot joining forces with Arab-led parties, but this could prove politically difficult. In a speech Wednesday morning focused on national unity, Eisenkot pledged to form a government and promised “a new era – an era of hope.”
Arab parties could hold the key
Faced with the electoral results of the Arab parties, Israelis are now faced with a debate as strong as their coffee.
“We have no future here if we don’t stop being afraid. And if we don’t stop racism. We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes,” Democratic Party leader Yair Golan said on X. His party supports integrating Israel’s Arab parties into the coalition.
Israel’s Arab citizens are descendants of Palestinians who remained in the state after its creation in 1948. They often face discrimination and are viewed with suspicion because of their solidarity with the Palestinian cause. These suspicions intensified after October 7, although Palestinian citizens were also among those killed. and removed.
Netanyahu had warned that Arab parties could make or break the elections, saying they would go to the polls in “unprecedented numbers.” He will not work with Arab-led parties, and they have also ruled out this possibility.
The mood was jubilant at the headquarters of the Joint List, the only Arab party to have joined a government coalition, briefly, in 2021.
“We are here, we are not on the sidelines,” said party leader Mansour Abbas.
Some Israelis found the prospect unusual, even uncomfortable.
“I feel like the country is pretty stuck,” said Hanna Doukhan, a voter in Tel Aviv. “We are gradually reaching a situation where we have to face reality. … I don’t see the possibility of forming a government without the Arabs.”
If no one manages to form a majority coalition, new elections could be held early next year. Israel held five elections between April 2019 and November 2022 due to a similar impasse. If thousands of Israelis living abroad go home to voteand it is unclear whether Arab voters would go to the polls again.
Minority governments are possible, but they must rely on the cooperation of parties outside the government to pass laws.
Attitudes toward a polarizing Netanyahu will shape the days ahead
The race was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s nearly uninterrupted 17 years of rule. Israelis were divided even before the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The result warswith settler violence in the occupied West Bank, have sparked global outragestraining ties with Israel’s closest allies and fueling a rise in anti-Semitism.
Netanyahu’s supporters believe he is protecting Israel’s security and Jewish identity in the face of international pressure and domestic liberal elites.
His detractors say that Netanyahu, assailed by a corruption trial underwaydragged out the war in Gaza and the hostage crisis for political reasons. They say it undermines the independence of Israel’s judicial system. And they accuse his government of allowing ultra-Orthodox religious Jews to avoid military conscription.
Eisenkot is seen by his supporters as a capable leader with strong security credentials. His son and two nephews were killed in Gaza, and his supporters believe he feels deeply the pain that continues to sweep through Israel. The parties likely to support him have pledged to improve Israel’s international standing and work toward conscription. ultra-orthodox men while strengthening the independence of the judiciary.
___
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers across Israel contributed to this report.
Gn world
