No Clear Winner In Israeli Parliamentary Election

With his party behind as vote counting continued Thursday in Israel’s parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a power-sharing agreement to his chief rival, Benny Gantz.

So far, Gantz has declined. 

The center-left Blue and White Party headed by Gantz, held two more seats in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, than Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party, with 98% of votes counted Thursday afternoon.

Final official figures hadn’t yet been released in the parliamentary voting, but neither bloc had enough seats to form a government.

Netanyahu had initially rejected the idea of a coalition government, but on Thursday invited Gantz to meet to discuss the idea.

Gantz, 60, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, declared victory in the election, and said the only way he’d be open to a unity government would be if he were the head. 

The deadlock has spurred talk about the possibility of another election in Israel in the near future, along with expectations of weeks of negotiations over how to form a government with no party holding a strong enough majority to do it.

With vote counting nearly complete on Thursday, Blue and White had 33 seats in the 120-seat parliament, while Likud had 31.

Neither party has enough to get to a 61-seat majority by drawing in allies in smaller parties.

Complicating matters, Netanyahu may face indictment in the coming months in relation to allegations of corruption. The Likud has no plans to oust Netanyahu as its leader.

All the parties will likely continue to negotiate and, along with President Reuven Rivlin, choose a prime minister, who would then try to form a coalition. If the effort fails, it could lead to a new election, which would be the third this year.

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