0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. / Reuters-Yonhap

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc won the most seats in the general election, but no political bloc secured a majority, leaving the country's political future uncertain.

Israel's Central Elections Committee (CEC) announced the final results of this year's general election early on Oct. 30 (local time). Of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, the pro-Netanyahu right-wing bloc secured 53, the anti-Netanyahu opposition bloc won 48, and Arab parties took the remaining 19.

The right-wing bloc, which previously held 68 seats, lost 15 seats in the election and failed to retain its majority.

Within the right-wing bloc, Netanyahu's Likud party won 27 seats, the most of any party in parliament. Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism each secured seven seats, while Shas and the Religious Zionist Party each won six.

In the opposition bloc, Yashar, led by former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, secured 21 seats. Beyachad, led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, won 12 seats, followed by the Democrats with eight and Yisrael Beytenu with seven.

The Joint List, comprising the Arab parties Hadash, Ta'al and Balad, secured 11 seats, while Ra'am won eight.

The final official voter turnout for the Oct. 27 election was 77.9%, with 5,716,665 votes cast.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to receive the election results on Nov. 4. He will then consult party leaders about forming the next coalition government before assigning the task to the party leader deemed most likely to secure majority support.

The 26th Knesset is scheduled to convene on Nov. 10. If negotiations fail to progress, the coalition-building process could be prolonged, or another election could be held.

The Times of Israel (TOI) reported that CEC Chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg asked Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, on Oct. 29 to investigate allegations of foreign interference in the election.

Local media reported allegations that Qatar had sent substantial funds to Israel in an attempt to influence voting among Arab voters.

The CEC reiterated that the investigation into alleged election irregularities would not affect the final results.

                                                                                                             Kim Hyun-min