Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

Read more

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc secured 53 seats in the next Knesset, ahead of the opposition bloc's 48, according to final election results released on Thursday by the Central Elections Committee.

However, both blocs fell short of the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority in the 120-seat legislature. Two Arab parties won a combined 19 seats, a record total that could prove pivotal in government formation. It remains unclear whether Gadi Eisenkot, the prime minister's main challenger, will agree to cooperate with the Arab parties to form a governing coalition.

Results from 12,644 polling stations have been entered into the system, totaling 5,589,836 votes, including 5,564,764 valid votes and 25,072 invalid votes, it said.

The special ballots include votes cast by soldiers, prisoners, diplomats, and hospitalized voters who could not vote at their regular polling stations.

The overall distribution of seats among the three political groupings remained unchanged from Wednesday’s results, despite changes in individual parties’ seat allocations following the counting of special ballots.

Netanyahu’s Likud party rose from 26 to 27 seats, while the ultra-Orthodox Shas party fell from seven to six.

Among Arab parties, Ra’am gained one seat, increasing its representation to eight, while the Joint List dropped one to 11.

Netanyahu’s bloc includes his Likud party and allied far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.