Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc won 53 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset, or parliament, well below the 68 seats it had controlled at its peak in the previous parliament.The bloc supporting Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats in an extremely tight election race, meaning neither secured the 61 seats needed to form a government.The count is complete, but the results still need to be certified and submitted to the country’s president next Wednesday.President Isaac Herzog will then consult with party chairs and choose a candidate who he thinks has the best chance to form a government.Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot at a polling station in Herzliya on Tuesday.Amir Levy / GettyParties led by Israel’s Arab minority made historic gains, winning a combined 19 seats in a race that saw Palestinians with Israeli citizenship head to the polls in record numbers Tuesday, many hoping to oust Netanyahu and far-right members of his coalition including Bezalel Smotrich, his finance minister, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.Both leading blocs have ruled out the possibility of forming a government with the two main Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List.
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