Dem
53
Ties
3
GOP
44
Yesterday's elections in Israel reportedly had the largest turnout in the history of that nation, such that only half the ballots have been counted so far. But, based on exit polls and the vote totals that have already been released, it looks like the country is in for a bumpy ride in the next few weeks, with both Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, claiming victory.
The basis for Netanyahu's claim is that it appears his party will have the largest number of seats in the new Knesset, with roughly 27. The basis for Eisenkot's claim is that it appears the Netanyahu opposition will control roughly 65 seats, as compared to roughly 55 seats for Likud and its allies. So, it is possible that the government will come under the control of anti-Netanyahu parties, and that the new PM will be Eisenkot or some other Netanyahu rival.
The problem here is that the two main Arab parties, Joint List and the United Arab List, are projected to win around 15 seats. That means that nobody is going to form a government without participation from one or both of those groups. And, at least thus far, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot have said they will not work with the Arab parties. Desperate times call for desperate measures, of course, and you never know what will happen once a would-be leader, to borrow a line from Abraham Lincoln, realizes "the taste is in my mouth a little."
Between the two, Eisenkot is far and away the one more likely to be able to find room for the Arab parties in his philosophy and in his political bloc. It's virtually inconceivable that Netanyahu could do so, since he is himself fundamentally opposed to such a thing, and since it would also blow a big hole in his coalition, causing the far-right members to flee. Anyhow, once the counting is finished in a day or two, anyone who aspires to be the next PM will have about a month to figure things out. Otherwise, it's a whole new election. (Z)