Difficult negotiations lie ahead in Israel after Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority

JERUSALEM — Israel’s final election results confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority and that weeks of difficult negotiations among very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox Jewish to secular to Arab-led, lie ahead.

The results released early Friday showed Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday’s election. The main opposition bloc won 48. Arab-led parties secured the other 19, a historic showing. Now parties must meet, bargain and seek a way to team up for at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, remains in charge.

“Now comes the truly hard part,” centrist politician Yair Lapid said on X, urging patience and adding: “If you want to know if something’s happening behind the silence you’re hearing now, the answer is yes.”

The president will task someone with forming a government

Difficult decisions lie ahead. Will the main opposition parties that campaigned hard to unseat the divisive Netanyahu make the politically sensitive choice to partner with Arab-led ones? Or will they toss their vows aside to team up with Netanyahu in a potentially fractious unity government?

Friday is when much of Israel starts winding down for Shabbat, and it was not clear who might…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world