Stalemate in Israel: Netanyahu misses the majority

After counting all the votes, it was clear on Friday: none of the blocs – neither the Netanyahu supporters nor his opponents – will have the necessary majority of 61 seats in parliament (Knesset). The Likud (31 seats) together with its partner parties only achieved 52 seats.

The second strongest individual party was the Future Party of opposition leader Yair Lapid (17 seats). Its “anti-Netanyahu camp” has 57 seats. Lapid refuses to work with Netanyahu. The 71-year-old therefore needs either the settler-friendly Yamina party or the Arab Raam (United Arab List / UAL). Neither Naftali Bennett (Yamina) nor Mansour Abbas (UAL) have yet declared their support for any of the blocs.