Israel’s post-election arithmetic moved from the ballot count to the President’s Residence on Wednesday. Isaac Herzog received the certified results of the 27 October vote in the morning and by the end of the day had begun receiving the first party delegations in his official home. By Thursday evening he expects to have heard every faction in the new Knesset before naming the lawmaker he thinks can build a coalition.
Nobody arrives with a majority. Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc holds 53 of 120 seats, while the opposition parties gathered around former army chief Gadi Eisenkot hold 48. The remaining 19 belong to two Arab-led lists, Ra’am and the Joint List, whose best-ever result was driven by unusually high participation in Arab towns. Most Jewish parties had pledged before polling day never to depend on them, which turns those 19 seats into an awkward potential kingmaker.
Herzog reversed the usual routine and started with the smallest groups. The Religious Zionists, Shas and the tiny Zehut party all named Netanyahu. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu backed Eisenkot, yet its envoy Oded Forer told the president that a cabinet propped up by Arab votes was off the table. Ra’am, for its part, said it would put Eisenkot forward, and the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah faction decided to recommend no one.
Herzog urged the factions to bend, warning that campaign pledges may have to be broken if the country is to be spared yet another vote. He also condemned the racist language aimed at Arab citizens in recent days, as the Shin Bet looks into claims of foreign money flowing into the campaign. Election officials insist those inquiries will not overturn the result.
Whoever is chosen gets 28 days to assemble a government, plus a possible 14-day extension. If that fails, Israelis could be heading back to the polls.
