Netanyahu bloc leads with 53 seats after 85.6% of votes counted

Shafaq News- Middle East

Israel’s Central Elections Committee reported that preliminary results, with 85.6% of votes counted in the parliamentary election, showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc winning 53 seats, compared with 48 for opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc and 19 for Arab parties.

The committee put voter turnout at 77.7%, the highest level since the 1999 election. It also estimated on Wednesday that between 430,000 and 480,000 double-envelope ballots remain to be counted, including votes cast by soldiers, police officers, prisoners, hospital patients, Israeli diplomats abroad and others unable to vote at their designated polling stations. Officials verify that voters have not voted twice before counting the ballots.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he would meet with representatives of parliamentary blocs next week for consultations ahead of assigning a candidate to form the next government. “I ask everyone who comes to meet with me to come with an open mind.”

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the preliminary results suggested Eisenkot had a strong chance of being tasked with forming the next government. The broadcaster also cited a source as saying that ultra-Orthodox parties had not ruled out cooperating with Eisenkot if he formed a government.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv likewise assessed that President Isaac Herzog could first ask Eisenkot to form a government.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu said he was waiting for the final results, arguing that they would show Likud was Israel’s largest party and that the right-wing bloc held a decisive majority. “A strong national government must be formed,” he said.

Eisenkot declared that Netanyahu’s political career was over and accused him of using Israel’s security for political gain. “He must not use Israel’s security for his political interests.”

Read more: Israelis vote in first election since October 7 attack