The elections in Israel end in a stalemate, neither Netanyahu nor his opponent can form a government with about 90% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud, Shas, Torah Judaism, Ben-Gebirs Otzma Yehudit and Smotrich) has 53 seats, eight less than the 61 most needed in the 120-seat parliament. The opposition bloc led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, the architect of the "Dahiyah theory" of flattening civilian areas in Lebanon, has only 48 seats. Likud remains the largest party with 26 seats, followed by Eisenkot Ishar with 21. The joint list of former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid was enough for only 12. The surprise of the night was the Arab parties, who almost doubled the result to 19 mandates with a high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel. On paper, they now hold the balance of power. In practice, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot refused to work with them before the vote. Yair Golan, the leader of the democratic left in the Eisenkots camp, is now the only one in the bloc who openly calls for partnership with the Arab parties. Israel's president, Yitzhak Herzog, is calling on the parties to avoid further elections and is reportedly in favor of a unity government, but Eisenkot has ruled out serving under Netanyahu. Official results are expected next week, after which Herzog will begin consultation. Until then, Netanyahu remained as interim prime minister.

The elections in Israel end in a stalemate, neither Netanyahu nor his opponent can form a government with about 90% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud, Shas, Torah Judaism, Ben-Gebirs Otzma Yehudit and Smotrich) has 53 seats, eight less than the 61 most needed in the 120-seat parliament. The opposition bloc led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, the architect of the "Dahiyah theory" of flattening civilian areas in Lebanon, has only 48 seats. Likud remains the largest party with 26 seats, followed by Eisenkot Ishar with 21. The joint list of former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid was enough for only 12. The surprise of the night was the Arab parties, who almost doubled the result to 19 mandates with a high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel. On paper, they now hold the balance of power. In practice, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot refused to work with them before the vote. Yair Golan, the leader of the democratic left in the Eisenkots camp, is now the only one in the bloc who openly calls for partnership with the Arab parties. Israel's president, Yitzhak Herzog, is calling on the parties to avoid further elections and is reportedly in favor of a unity government, but Eisenkot has ruled out serving under Netanyahu. Official results are expected next week, after which Herzog will begin consultation. Until then, Netanyahu remained as interim prime minister.