Difficult negotiations lie ahead in Israel after Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority

Key Points:

• Israel’s final election results show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, losing its parliamentary majority, while the main opposition secured 48 seats and Arab-led parties won a historic 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
• Coalition talks are expected to be challenging, as parties from diverse political and religious backgrounds must negotiate to form a government with at least 61 seats, with questions over whether opposition parties will partner with Arab-led groups or join Netanyahu in a unity government.
• Netanyahu and his Likud party have made unsubstantiated claims of election interference by Arab parties, prompting criticism and calls for investigation, while the election committee and security agencies have urged caution and emphasized the legitimacy of the vote.
• The new Knesset is set to convene on November 10, where opposition forces, potentially including Arab parties, could assert control by electing a new speaker and influencing the parliamentary agenda before a government is formed.
• If Netanyahu loses power, he faces potential legal consequences related to corruption charges and inquiries into security failures linked to the October 7 Hamas attack, outcomes he is believed to be trying to avoid.