Israel deadlock confirmed by near-complete results

Results give former military chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance the most seats, with 33 out of parliament’s 120. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud won 31 seats

JERUSALEM: Israeli vote results on Friday confirmed a deadlock in the country’s general election and put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party as the second-largest, leaving him with a tough battle to extend his long tenure in office.

The near-complete official results from Tuesday’s election gave ex-military chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance the most seats, with 33 out of parliament’s 120.

Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud won 31 seats, but neither had an obvious path to a majority coalition.

In a stark admission on Thursday, Netanyahu acknowledged he was unable to form a right-wing coalition as he hoped and called on Gantz to join him in a unity government instead.

Gantz responded by saying he would have to be prime minister in a unity government since Blue and White was the largest party.

The standoff has even raised the possibility of yet another election -- which would be the third to be held in a year following April polls that also ended inconclusively.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin plans to begin consultations with all parties voted into parliament on Sunday to decide who to choose to try to form a government.

Major developments were not expected before then, particularly with the Sabbath, or weekly Jewish day of rest, beginning at sundown Friday.

Final results will be published on Wednesday and there could be changes before then, Israel’s election committee said.

The committee said the results did not include 14 polling stations where verifications were still ongoing.

Israeli media said more than 99 percent of the votes had been counted.

The third-largest total was for the mainly Arab Joint List alliance, which won 13 seats.

Its strong showing opened the possibility that its leader Ayman Odeh could become the country’s first Arab opposition chief if Likud and Blue and White form a unity government.

A number of analysts attributed the Joint List breakthrough to anger with Netanyahu over actions and rhetoric seen as demonising the country’s Arab population helping spur turnout.

Following the Joint List, the country’s two main ultraOrthodox Jewish parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, won nine and eight seats respectively.

Ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman’s nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party also won eight seats, and he could potentially play a kingmaker role. He has called for a unity government between his party, Likud and Blue and White, excluding the ultra-orthodox parties, which he accuses of seeking to force religious law onto the country’s secular population.

On Friday, he said he had not spoken to either Netanyahu or Gantz yet and did not plan to do so until next week.

He laid out his requirements for joining a coalition, including a demand for legislation to have the ultra-orthodox perform mandatory military service like most Jewish Israelis.

Lieberman’s refusal to budge on that issue caused coalition talks to fail after the April election.