After the unofficial results of the elections in Israel were announced, it became clear that the bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu could not win the 61 mandates required to form a government.
Thus, the bloc led by Netanyahu was able to get 53 mandates.
Modern.az reports that the results of the elections in Israel have created political uncertainty.
Israel's "Maariv" newspaper writes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "Likud" Party won 26 mandates.
His bloc, consisting of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, had a total of 53 mandates.
Former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Gadi Ayzenkot's "Yashar" Party is preparing to become the second largest party in the parliament with 21 mandates.
The opposition bloc led by Gadi Ayzenkot won 48 mandates.
The fact that neither side could collect the 61 mandates required to form a government brought to the agenda the question of how the new government will be formed.
The total number of mandates of the "Joint Arab List" and "Raam" party, which represent Palestinians who are citizens of Israel, is expected to reach 19. This result puts the Arab parties in a decisive position in the negotiations regarding the formation of the government.
However, some parties in both the Netanyahu bloc and the opposition front had stated during the election campaign that they would not form a coalition with Arab parties.
In a statement issued after the election results, the "Joint Arab List" stated that it is ready to cooperate with the opposition to prevent the re-establishment of the Netanyahu government and to create conditions for the formation of an alternative government.
Hersog's new election warning
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on political parties to avoid new elections. He emphasized the importance of parties being "open-minded" during coalition talks.
Herzog announced that he expects to receive the official election results from Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg next week. The President noted the importance of preventing a new election phase.
I. Herzog is expected to start consultations with political parties next week. However, if no bloc can secure a majority, new elections in Israel could be held as early as April next year.
Israel faces three scenarios
"The Times of Israel" newspaper analyzed the situation regarding the formation of the government and wrote that Israel faces three main scenarios.
According to the first scenario, the opposition bloc led by Gadi Ayzenkot may try to form a minority government with the support of Arab parties.
In this model, Arab parties can support the opposition in decisive votes without directly joining the government.
However, the announcement by some opposition parties during the election campaign that they would not form a coalition with Arab parties is considered one of the main obstacles to this option.
The second scenario is the formation of a broad unity government of parties with different political views.
Such a government could include "Likud" as well as the far-right parties led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, as well as ultra-Orthodox parties.
However, it is possible that the opposition will demand that Netanyahu keep some of his current political partners out of the government.
The pre-election promises of the bloc against Netanyahu may also make it difficult to implement this option. Because withdrawing from promises made to voters can create serious political problems for opposition parties.
Achieving such an agreement will depend on how much the parties will compromise with each other.
The third scenario is for the country to go to elections again if political parties cannot agree on the formation of a government.
In Israel, in 2019, the inability of any political bloc to gain a majority in parliament led to a long-term election process. Several elections were held in the country until March 2021.
As a result, the coalition led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid removed Netanyahu from power. The elections held in November 2022 ensured Netanyahu's return to the post of prime minister.
The current political polarization indicates that a similar period of uncertainty may be experienced again in Israel.
If the parties cannot come to a common position on the formation of the government, new elections in the country may be inevitable.
The determination of the new prime minister may take months
The future of the government in Israel will depend on several key factors. These include whether Arab parties will support the opposition, whether center-right parties will reach an agreement with Netanyahu, and whether political forces will remain committed to their pre-election commitments.
If neither side can secure a majority in parliament, the determination of the new prime minister could take weeks, or even months.
During this period, political leaders are expected to consider coalition models that were not brought up in previous discussions.
A.Gorkhmaz
