Politics1 min read

Herzog clears poll results; Netanyahu faces test

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Official election results confirmed significant gains for Arab-led parties while depriving the religious-nationalist bloc of its majority. Election officials confirmed the vote will be formally certified on Wednesday, even as a separate Shin Bet investigation into foreign interference continues. President Isaac Herzog is set to open two days of party consultations to designate a leader capable of assembling a government. Both leading contenders must now aggressively court smaller factions or consider novel partnerships to prevent a return to the polls.

Key points

  • Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor challenger Gadi Eisenkot holds an outright majority, spark…: Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor challenger Gadi Eisenkot holds an outright majority, sparking intense negotiations with smaller factions.
  • President Isaac Herzog will conduct two days of consultations before choosing the candida…: President Isaac Herzog will conduct two days of consultations before choosing the candidate best positioned to form a government.
  • The country will face another national election early next year if coalition talks fail t…: The country will face another national election early next year if coalition talks fail to secure a governing majority.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Neither the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor that of his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, secured an outright majority in parliament. The two sides are now in hard-fought negotiations to convince smaller parties to join forces to create a new government.

Earlier in the day, Israel’s election commission said it found no fraud in last week’s vote, dealing a blow to Netanyahu’s attempts to discredit the results. Netanyahu and his supporters have repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, possibly with foreign assistance.

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The results showed Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc losing its parliamentary majority, while Arab-led parties made substantial gains.

“The review found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results,” the committee said in a statement.

The acting director of the elections committee, Dean Livne, said its investigation examined every complaint “individually and thoroughly,” but found no evidence to support allegations that the election results were invalid.

The results, which are set to be formally certified Wednesday,…

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