Arab parties hold balance after inconclusive Israeli vote

JERUSALEM

Israel’s Arab-led parties were on course for a record 19 seats after the Oct. 27 election, putting them in a potentially decisive position as both main political blocs remained short of a parliamentary majority.

With 89.8 percent of votes counted by late Oct. 28, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 53 seats and the opposition led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot 48.

A majority requires 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

The Joint List was projected to take 12 seats and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am seven, following strong turnout among Arab citizens of Israel.

“We’ll translate this electoral power into an influential political force,” Abbas told supporters.

Ahmad Tibi, leader of Ta’al, one of the parties in the Joint List, urged the opposition to cooperate, writing on X: “It’s either Bibi or Tibi.”

The combined opposition and Arab-party tally would exceed the majority threshold. But several prominent figures in Eisenkot’s bloc, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman, have ruled out governing with Arab-led parties.

Democrats leader Yair Golan urged the opposition to work with them, rejecting what he called a racist distinction between Jewish and Arab votes.

President Isaac Herzog called on political leaders to approach coalition talks with an open mind and seek to avoid another election.

His office denied a Channel 14 report that he was promoting a power-sharing arrangement under which Netanyahu and Eisenkot would take turns as prime minister.

A unity government remains one possible outcome of negotiations, while failure to form a coalition could lead to another election. Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister until a new government takes office.

Counting was continuing, including ballots cast by soldiers and others voting away from their assigned polling stations. Official final results are expected on Nov. 4.