With at least 80% of the vote tallied, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival, former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, is within reach of the 61 seats needed to form a majority in Israel’s 120-seat Parliament, the Knesset.
But Mr. Netanyahu won the support of a clear majority of Israeli Jews, likely ensuring that he will continue on as prime minister, at least in a caretaker role.
Israel’s three major broadcasters reported the prime minister’s bloc of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties were on course to win 53 seats in the Knesset, ahead of the 48 for Mr. Eisenkot’s opposition bloc, Reuters reported.
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Arab-led parties made a historic showing, taking 19 seats in the Knesset. But it wasn’t clear if opponents of the prime minister would form a coalition with them for a majority of seats in the Parliament.
He dismissed as “treasonous” any plan to partner with the Arabs.
Mr. Eisenkot has left the door open to working with the Arab parties under “certain conditions,” including their official recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and categorizing Hamas as an extremist group.
It wasn’t clear if some of his likely partners in the anti-Netanyahu bloc would change their minds to force the prime minister from office.
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