Israel opposition party struggles to form a government despite Netanyahu lose majority

By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Israel’s opposition on Friday is facing a major obstacle in its attempt to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas reportedly cast doubt on the possibility of forming a minority government backed by Arab parties, despite an election result that has left the incumbent without a parliamentary majority.

Yair Golan has opened talks with rival party leaders as Israel prepares for presidential consultations.

A separate security inquiry is examining unproven allegations of foreign interference in Tuesday’s vote.

Abbas told party colleagues that the prospects of a government led by Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, with outside support from Arab lawmakers, were slim or nonexistent, according to a Channel 12 report carried by The Times of Israel.

His assessment exposes the central dilemma of Israel’s post-election negotiations: while the opposition and Arab parties collectively have enough seats to command a majority, several parties opposed to Netanyahu remain unwilling to depend on Arab-majority factions.

The completed vote count from Tuesday’s election gives Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, eight short of the 61 needed to form a majority government.

Eisenkot’s opposition bloc secured 48 seats, while the two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, won a combined 19.

Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar with 21. Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad, or Together, secured 12 seats.

The combined strength of the opposition and Arab-led factions reaches 67 seats, theoretically enough to replace Netanyahu. But the calculation does not translate into a governing alliance because of disagreements over cooperation with Arab parties.

The results have been counted but are awaiting formal certification, expected on November 4.

Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats, held separate meetings with Eisenkot, Abbas and former prime minister Yair Lapid on Thursday as efforts intensified to explore an alternative government.

Golan remains the only leader within the Jewish-led anti-Netanyahu bloc to openly endorse coalition cooperation with Ra’am. Other parties in the bloc have rejected reliance on Arab parties to establish a government.

Eisenkot, Golan invoked their shared military backgrounds and the responsibility facing opposition leaders.

“Saving Israel is on the line,” he wrote on X.

“We are partners on this path and in the commitment to ensure a better future for Israel,” he added.

The disagreement over Arab participation leaves Eisenkot with limited room to assemble a majority from the parties that campaigned against Netanyahu.

A minority administration supported by Arab lawmakers from outside the coalition remains one possible parliamentary arrangement, but Abbas’s reported assessment highlights the resistance surrounding that option.

The election has also weakened Netanyahu’s existing political alliance.

His bloc held 68 seats in the outgoing Knesset, has fallen to 53, depriving it of the numbers needed to continue governing independently.

Likud remains the largest individual party, but finishing first does not automatically give Netanyahu the parliamentary backing required to form the next government.

The outcome has raised the prospect of negotiations across existing political divisions, including possible cooperation between Likud and opposition parties.

Such an arrangement would require significant political compromises, particularly after an election in which opposition leaders campaigned to remove Netanyahu.

The coalition negotiations are unfolding alongside an investigation into allegations of foreign interference in Tuesday’s vote.

Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg has asked Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate suspicions that foreign funding may have been used to improperly influence the election.

The allegations have become politically contentious, particularly after Netanyahu and his allies questioned the legitimacy of the result and raised claims concerning Arab voter turnout.

The acting Central Elections Committee director general Dean Livne has rejected allegations of systematic electoral irregularities, stating that the vote was conducted lawfully and that the committee had no evidence of widespread violations.

The allegations of foreign interference remain unproven. The inquiry has not established that the election outcome was compromised.

President Isaac Herzog has called for a thorough investigation while warning against casting suspicion on the Arab community as a whole.

The focus is on the formal certification of the results and consultations led by Herzog, who must determine which lawmaker has the best prospect of forming a government.

The candidate entrusted with the task will need to secure sufficient parliamentary support, either through a formal coalition or arrangements with parties outside the government.

If successive attempts fail, Israel could face another election.

The parliamentary arithmetic has produced neither a secure majority for Netanyahu nor an agreed alternative.

The immediate obstacle is no longer the number of seats available to the opposition, but whether its leaders can agree on the political support needed to use them.