JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified results of the country’s parliamentary election Wednesday and began talks with political parties over who should try to form the next government.
The official tally gives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party 27 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party won 21, leaving neither leading bloc with a majority.
Herzog received the results from Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg at the president’s residence. He said he accepted them under Israeli law.
Final seat count
Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party finished third with 12 seats, followed by the Joint List with 11. The Democrats and Ra’am won eight seats each.
Yisrael Beytenu, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism received seven seats apiece. Shas and the combined Religious Zionism-Zehut list won six seats each.
The Knesset’s results page lists 5,691,426 valid votes. Likud received 20.51%, while Yashar took 16.05%. The Oct. 27 election had 7,331,981 eligible voters.
The certified count replaces the partial totals released during ballot counting. Those earlier figures showed Likud at 20.74% and Yashar at 16.19% but did not allocate seats.
Questions about the vote
The elections commission said it found no evidence that irregularities compromised the election or changed the result, according to The Associated Press.
A separate investigation into possible foreign interference remains open. Sohlberg said the claims were still suspicions and that any possible effect appeared limited.
Herzog said authorities should fully investigate any suspected foreign effort to influence the election. He also warned against smearing Israel’s Arab population and condemned racist statements made after the vote.
Likud did not respond to an AP request for comment on the commission’s findings.
Coalition consultations begin
Herzog started meeting party representatives Wednesday night. Three parties aligned with Netanyahu recommended that he receive the first opportunity to build a coalition, while another party recommended Eisenkot, AP reported.
Eight more parties were scheduled to meet the president Thursday. Herzog will then choose the lawmaker he believes has the best chance to assemble a government.
The president said the election produced no clear winner and urged the parties to seek a stable government rather than send the country back to the polls.
Have something to promote?
Bring your business, services or event to our readers.