By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin By — Netta Asher Netta Asher By — Dan Sagalyn Dan Sagalyn Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-next-for-israel-after-election-produces-political-gridlock Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio In Israel, nearly all the votes have been counted in Tuesday's election. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies emerged as the largest bloc, but lost seats and fell short of the majority needed to form a government. The results leave Israel facing the prospect of political gridlock. Nick Schifrin reports from Tel Aviv. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: In Israel, nearly all the votes have been counted in yesterday's election. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies emerged as the largest bloc, but lost seats and fell short of the majority needed to form a new government. The results leave Israel facing the prospect of political gridlock.Nick Schifrin joins us now from Tel Aviv.So, Nick, last night the opposition bloc was leading based on exit polls. Now that the votes have been counted, where do the party stand? Nick Schifrin: Well, you're right, Geoff.The polls essentially inverted the final results. As you said, Netanyahu's Likud Party won the most seats of any party, and his coalition also won the most seats, even if, as you pointed out, they did lose their majority.Now, as of now, with the vast majority of votes counted, they -- Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats, well short of the 61 it needs for a majority in the Parliament or Knesset, but more than the 48 seats that the opposition Change bloc won. One of the most significant outcomes of this election is the 19 seats that as of now the Arab parties won.They are also anti-Netanyahu. So you could conclude that the majority of the country rejected the current government, but that is not how Israeli politics work. It is Netanyahu's coalition that has the most votes, which means, as of now, there's not only weeks ahead of us of negotiations, but there's no clear direction that the country has chosen to go, even though, Geoff, voters on all sides told us that the country is at a crossroads. Geoff Bennett: And what are the scenarios, Nick, for what could happen next? Nick Schifrin: So, next week, Israel's president will invite one of the blocs to try and form a majority government. When it comes to Netanyahu, he would have to persuade one of Eisenkot's coalition partners to defect. But a Netanyahu official told me today they consider that impossible.Or he could form what's known as a unity government with Eisenkot. This has been done before, especially in times of war. But Eisenkot and all of his allies have ruled it out. They are vociferously anti-Netanyahu.Now, Eisenkot does have his own path. Note again, the Change bloc in blue and the Arab parties in green combined have more than 61 and could create a government together. But Israelis have been resistant to Jewish parties needing Arab parties to be part of the ruling coalition, especially after October the 7th, and Eisenkot calls his coalition -- quote -- "Zionist."But we will see what happens because there is a technical way for those Arab parties to support Eisenkot from the outside.As for Netanyahu today, his campaign accused Arab voters of -- quote -- "stealing the election," an allegation police responded to by saying there is no investigative substantiation to the claims. And last night, Netanyahu called for the Arab parties to be excluded. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter): We must form a right-wing national strong government. That is what must be done. We must not, must not endanger Israel and establish a government that is backed by anti-Zionist Arab parties. Nick Schifrin: Finally, Geoff, the fourth and perhaps most likely scenario at this point, one that many Israelis do not want, neither side gets to form a government or neither side succeeds in forming a government, and Israel heads to more elections. Geoff Bennett: And what might all of this mean for Netanyahu and his political future, Nick? Nick Schifrin: Well, Netanyahu stays prime minister, even if he's supposed to act with restraint.But analysts here say that he could choose to take the country to war. A U.S. official confirms to me that Netanyahu pushed for attacks on Iran before the Israeli election. Israeli defense officials have also said that, and that led to this extraordinary warning last night from Gadi Eisenkot. Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli Prime Minister Candidate (through interpreter): I call on the heads of the security establishment and the civil service, remember that you serve only the state and the interests of the Israeli citizens. Stand firm against any attempt to challenge you. Netanyahu, do not dare use Israel's security for your own political needs. Nick Schifrin: Now, U.S. officials have also said, including President Trump in public, that the U.S. could go back to war with Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. And that would presumably give Netanyahu more leverage as these coalition talks play out, and which shows, really no matter what happens, Geoff, whether Netanyahu is able to form the coalition or not, we are still in a country dominated by Netanyahu and the opposition's inability to sell a majority of the country on the idea of a post-Netanyahu Israel. Geoff Bennett: Nick Schifrin reporting again for us from Tel Aviv.Nick, our thanks to you. Listen to this Segment By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS News Hour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent and serves as the host of Compass Points from PBS News. @nickschifrin By — Netta Asher Netta Asher By — Dan Sagalyn Dan Sagalyn As the deputy senior producer for foreign affairs and defense at the PBS NewsHour, Dan plays a key role in helping oversee and produce the program’s foreign affairs and defense stories. His pieces have broken new ground on an array of military issues, exposing debates simmering outside the public eye. @DanSagalyn
What's next for Israel after election produces political gridlock
In short
The official vote left the opposition Change bloc with 48 seats, while anti-Netanyahu Arab parties secured 19 seats. Although the Change bloc and Arab parties together hold enough seats to surpass the 61-seat threshold, deep-seated resistance to incorporating Arab parties into a ruling coalition severely impedes cooperation. Meanwhile, opposition figures continue to rule out joining a unity government with Netanyahu or defecting to his side. Unless these divided factions navigate the volatile landscape to reach an agreement, Israel will likely be forced into another general vote.
Key points
- Opposition figures have rejected defecting to Netanyahu's camp or entering into a unity g…: Opposition figures have rejected defecting to Netanyahu's camp or entering into a unity government with his coalition.
- Reluctance to include Arab parties in a government creates a major barrier for the opposi…: Reluctance to include Arab parties in a government creates a major barrier for the opposition despite having sufficient combined seats.
- Failure by either bloc to construct a majority coalition will push Israel toward another…: Failure by either bloc to construct a majority coalition will push Israel toward another round of elections.