Arab parties ‘have woken up’: Israel's uncertain election may deliver surprise kingmakers
Uncertainty hung over Israel’s election Wednesday as neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing, religious bloc nor that of his centrist rival, Gadi Eisenkot, appeared to be heading for a majority in the Knesset. But there was a surprise: an unusually strong showing by Arab parties could make them unexpected kingmakers.
Israeli voters observed election results nearing completion on Wednesday following the highest voter turnout in more than 25 years. While the Daily Times reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s alliance is leading in preliminary figures, neither major political bloc has secured enough seats to form a government independently. According to PBS NewsHour, no clear winner has emerged, potentially leading to weeks of negotiations between Netanyahu and opposition parties seeking to unseat him.
US President Donald Trump has claimed credit for the results, suggesting his endorsement helped Netanyahu. While Trump initially told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that he had heard Netanyahu performed better than expected and that it was too early to draw conclusions, the Jerusalem Post reports that he later posted on Truth Social expressing a desire for Netanyahu to know he was responsible for the results. The Jerusalem Post noted that Netanyahu had not secured a parliamentary majority at the time of these claims.
Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour, Jerusalem Post, Daily Times — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
