Jerusalem: The results have been counted, argued over and, so far, have held. What Israel does not have is a government, or an obvious route to one.
In the October 27 election for the 120-seat Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot won 48. The Arab-led parties took 19, a record and well above the 15 that pre-election polling had suggested. Likud remained the largest single party with 27 seats, ahead of Eisenkot's Yashar on 21.
President Isaac Herzog receives the official results on Wednesday and begins consultations with representatives of all elected factions the same day, with the meetings to be broadcast live. Under the law, he then assigns the task of forming a government to whichever member he judges most likely to succeed. That need not be the leader of the largest party.
The chosen candidate gets 28 days, extendable by 14. If that fails, the president can hand the task to another member for 28 days. If that also fails, 61 members can ask the president to designate a third candidate, who gets 14 days. Failure at every stage means another election within about 90 days.
Herzog has asked factions to come "with an open heart" and find ways to avoid a repeat vote. "I really, truly will do all I can so there won't be repeat elections," he said.
Netanyahu has not closed the door on a unity arrangement with Eisenkot, telling a closed-door meeting, according to Ynet, "We are examining everything. I am not completely ruling out any option." Likud has publicly opposed a rotating premiership.
The result has also been contested. Likud alleged that Arab-led parties "stole" the vote with funding from abroad, widely reported to be Qatar, which has rejected the claim. The Central Elections Committee chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, said the Shin Bet investigation would not change the outcome, and that results "do not depend on the consent of the majority group in the outgoing Knesset." Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of an organised campaign to delegitimise the results.
The new Knesset is due to be sworn in on November 10. Until a government is formed, Netanyahu stays on as caretaker.