Netanyahu Falls Short of Majority, Possibly Sending Israel to Polls for Fifth Time

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prospects of forming a government remained bleak as the last of the votes of Tuesday’s election — the fourth in two years — were counted on Thursday, leaving the chances for a fifth election open.

After exit polls initially showed a clear 61-seat victory for the rightwing bloc, an unexpected turn happened when the Arab-Islamist Ra’am party, which was expected to fall short of the electoral threshold, made it in with five seats – dramatically rejigging the existing formations.

The pro-Netanyahu bloc subsequently slipped to 52 seats, a full 9 seats short of the majority needed to form a government. The anti-Netanyahu bloc gained 57 seats, placing both Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, and the rightwing Yamina, led by Naftali Bennett, in the unlikely position of kingmakers. Neither Abbas not Bennett have committed to joining either bloc and Netanyahu would need both to achieve a majority.

However, hard right elements in the pro-Netanyahu bloc have made it abundantly clear they would not sit together with Islamists in a coalition.

“Terrorism supporters who deny the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state are not legitimate partners for any government,” Religious Zionist Party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Facebook.

Even among Likud MKs themselves, the consensus about accepting Ra’am into a coalition is far from clear.

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch said there was “no way” Ra’am would be part of the government, saying Israel would head to a fifth election if a government could not be formed. However, Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi said “in the current situation, we view [Ra’am head] Mansour Abbas as a potential possibility [for coalition partner].”

Likud MK Shlomo Karhi retorted in response, “Absolutely not!”

In the latest results, Likud earns 30 seats; Yesh Atid 17; Shas 9; Blue and White 8; Labor 7; Yamina 7; United Torah Judaism 7; Yisrael Beytenu 7; Joint List 6; Religious Zionism 6; New Hope 6; Meretz 5; and Ra’am 5.

New Hope head and Likud defector Gideon Sa’ar called for a “government of change” to be built now it was clear his rival Netanyahu could not build a coalition, adding that “ego won’t be a factor.”

Likud responded by saying in a statement: “The ‘change bloc’ is a whitewashed name for an anti-democratic entity. The only change they want is to bring laws that exist only in Iran to limit candidates and to cancel the democratic votes of over a million Israeli citizens.”