Israelis await final election results as Netanyahu rivals weigh joining forces with Arab parties

Anxious Israelis awaited the final election results on Wednesday as no clear winner emerged, potentially leading to weeks of negotiations for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and various opposition parties seeking to unseat him. Arab-led parties performed well in the polls, but it remained uncertain if they would unite with other opposition parties to form a majority coalition in Israel's 120-seat Knesset.

Netanyahu, seeking to remain Israel's longest-serving prime minister, dismissed the idea of partnering with Arab parties as treasonous following his party's decline in the vote count. His main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, left the door open to forming a coalition with Arab parties under specific conditions, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and treating Hamas as an extremist group.

However, it was unclear whether some of Eisenkot's potential partners, who had ruled out such an alliance, would change their stance. With 85% of votes counted, Netanyahu's Likud party held 20.8% of the vote, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar party at 16.1% and Arab-led parties at 14.9%. Neither coalition bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority.

Netanyahu faced a setback but not an outright defeat, and vote-counting continued until Thursday evening. If no coalition could be formed, new elections might be held early the following year.