Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 54 seats in the 120-member Knesset, seven short of a governing majority, as 84.5% of votes were counted in Israeli parliamentary elections, according to Israeli media.
No clear winner as early results show surge for Arab parties after record turnout.
With 84.5% of ballot boxes counted as of 12:34 p.m., partial results published by the Central Elections Committee give 54 seats to the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 49 seats to the bloc led by Yashar’s Gadi Eisenkot, The Times of Israel reported.
It added that the Arab-led parties — the Joint List and Ra’am — earned so far 17 seats.
Neither major bloc was projected to reach the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
Individual Parties
Among individual parties, Netanyahu’s Likud was projected to lead with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar with 22.
The Together alliance was expected to secure 12.
The Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu were each projected to win eight and seven seats respectively, while Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit were expected to secure seven each.
Religious Zionism and Ra’am were each projected to win six seats.
The results remain provisional and may change as vote counting continues.
Shekel Weakens
The shekel weakens against the US dollar after Israel’s inconclusive election result and amid political uncertainty over the establishment of the next government.
The shekel depreciates 0.7 percent to NIS 3.0765 per dollar in morning trading in Tel Aviv.
The lsraeli currency hit a three-week high on Tuesday as investors bet on a definitive outcome of the election that would remove political uncertainty and lead to the formation of stable coalition government.
Source: Al-Manar English Website