Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan are tied but neither can secure a ruling majority, with 92 percent of the votes in Israel's Tuesday election counted, according to a source in Israel's Central Elections Committee.
According to the partial results, Likud and Kahol Lavan won each 32 out of 120 Knesset seats. Netanyahu's bloc, comprised of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, currently stands at 56 seats. The center-left bloc, excluding Arab parties, has 43 seats.
Avigdor Liberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party is projected nine seats, is expected to be the election's kingmaker. On Wednesday morning, he reiterated his support for a "broad liberal unity government," which would include Yisrael Beiteinu, Likud and Kahol Lavan.
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The third largest party in the Knesset is the Joint List, an alliance of four Arab parties, with 12 seats. Ultra-Orthodox Shas has nine seats, followed closely by United Torah Judaism with eight. Ayelet Shaked's right-wing alliance Yamina has seven seats, according to the partial results, followed by Labor-Gesher with six seats and the Democratic Union with five.
Exit polls on Tuesday night predicted that Netanyahu's right-wing bloc would gain 53-55 seats. The biggest party, according to polls, was Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan.
7:36 A.M. In defeat, Netanyahu looks to Iran and Trump for salvation
After what looks like an almost certain failure to secure a majority coalition in Israel's Tuesday election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't need anyone to tell him about the murmurings within Likud that his own party should start thinking about a change in leadership. He suspects they are there, and have been for a while. Read Anshel Pfeffer's full analysis here...
6:57 A.M. 92% of votes counted: Likud, Kahol Lavan tied
According to a source in Israel’s Central Elections Committee, with 92 percent of the votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan are tied with 32 out of 120 seats each. The Joint List, an alliance of four Arab parties, is slated to be the third largest party in the Knesset with 12 seats.
Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and ultra-Orthodox Shas have nine seats each, followed closely by United Torah Judaism with eight. Right-wing alliance Yamina has seven seats, according the partial count, followed by Labor-Gesher with six seats and the Democratic Union with five. [Aaron Rabinowitz]
6:22 A.M. Delay in release of official results; most Arab votes not processed yet
The release of official election results is delayed following changes made by the Central Elections Committee to the processing method of votes. According to the election board, the changes that led to delays, compared to previous election cycles, are intended to avoid errors and ensure suspected voter fraud is examined before official results are released.
Early Wednesday morning, the committee reported it has officially processed 1,647,794 envelopes, which amount to only 37 percent of the total number of votes cast on Tuesday. However, over 85 percent of the votes had actually been counted at that point.
Therefore, official data on the Central Elections Committee’s website gives an incomplete picture of the results.
For example, the Joint List, an alliance of four Arab parties, is shown as failing to pass the 3.25-percent electoral threshold, whereas exit polls project it would be the third largest party in the Knesset. The reason for this discrepancy is that vast majority of ballots from Arab locales have yet to be fully processed.
6 A.M. Will Lieberman go all the way with his promise to take down Netanyahu?
It appears that all the commotion, the suspense, the money spent, and the energy invested, all of it was in vain. The entire festival of Israel's election brought us back to pretty much the same place. We already know that Avigdor Lieberman is the key figure in Israeli politics.
The only lingering question that will remain with us in the coming autumn is the same one that accompanied us during the last coalition negotiations: Will Lieberman follow through? Read Ravit Hecht's full analysis here...
3:30 A.M. Netanyahu warns of 'dangerous anti-Zionist government' as supporters chant 'we don't want unity'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to form a “strong, Zionist government” after his Likud party came in second in exit polls in Israel’s election, warning his supporters of a “dangerous, anti-Zionist government.”
Speaking to a half-empty hall at the Likud campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu added he already began negotiations with Likud’s potential coalition partners on the right wing. “They all committed to pursue our goals together,” Netanyahu said, as his supporters chanted “We don’t want unity [government].”
Netanyahu also said “This election has been one of the toughest we’d known,” blasting “one-sided media that was against us. It didn’t stop us.”
"There won't and cannot be a government supported by anti-Zionist Arab parties who deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, who glorify bloodthirsty terrorists who murder our soldiers," Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu also said “This election has been one of the toughest we’d known,” blasting “one-sided media that was against us. It didn’t stop us.”
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