Ahead of the election, two clear coalitions had formed. On the one side, the ruling coalition of right-wing, far-right and religious parties centered around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.
On the other side was the anti-Netanyahu bloc, made up of a coalition of right-wing, centrist and liberal parties whose unifying principle was to oust Netanyahu from power.
However, neither of these blocs was able to secure a majority of seats, meaning a simple path to forming a government is off the table.
The task of figuring out a new working coalition is now beginning, with the question of whether the two Arab-Israeli lists, which together secured an unprecedented 19 seats, may form part of a future government or at least provide some form of support.
Yair Golan, chairman of the left-liberal Democrats, said he had met with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Mansur Abbas, head of the Arab Ra’am party.
He has called for discussions with the Arab-led parties, saying after his meeting with Eisenkot that “the rescue of Israel is at stake,” in a post on X.
It remains to be seen if the right-wing factions of Eisenkot’s anti-Netanyahu bloc would ultimately entertain the possibility of working with the Arab-led parties.
Another option that has been aired is the possibility of a unity government including both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, but such a move may be similarly distasteful for moderate voters.
Source: www.dw.com
