Israel Hits Political Impasse Again As Netanyahu And Allies Short Of Majority

The national elections in Israel failed to deliver decisive results yet again with no political alliance ending up with a clear majority, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

What Happened

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is headed to win 36 seats in the 120 seats Israeli parliament Knesset, per the Jerusalem Post.

Allies, including right-wing Yamina and religious parties United Torah Judaism and Shas, together would add another 22 seats. This means that the 58 seats total of the alliance will fall three shy of the 61 seats required to make a claim to form the government.

The centrist and liberal alliance Blue and White emerged as the second-largest faction with 33 seats, well short of a clear majority with no feasible chance to form a government.

The Arab-majority political party Joint List gained the third-largest number of seats at 15.

Even though about 99% of the votes have been counted, the official results won't be available until Monday. 

Why It Matters

This was the fourth parliamentary election in less than a year in Israel. Previous elections in April and September last year failed to similarly give conclusive results.

The latest election has proved to be yet another impasse as any possible coalition combination would require the concerned political parties to make ideological compromises and could result in a fourth vote to elect the members of Knesset who ultimately choose the country's prime minister, the highest executive authority in Israel.