Israel election: When will government be formed, who will lead it?

President Isaac Herzog must tap a candidate to form a new government after results are certified by November 10, with fraught negotiations likely to follow.

A protester holds a placard calling for the formation of a Jewish-Arab coalition government, near the Israeli prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, October 31 [AFP]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his coalition’s parliamentary majority following legislative elections on October 27.

But a bloc of Jewish parties opposing Netanyahu also failed to win a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, leaving Israel without a clear path to a new government.

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What’s ahead is likely weeks of political wrangling as Israel’s disparate factions weigh possible governing arrangements, including a unity government bringing rival factions together or a minority government reliant on outside support. If they fail to reach an agreement, Israel could head back to the polls.

Here’s what you should know:

What are the final results of Israel’s elections?

The pro-Netanyahu coalition won 53 seats:

United Torah Judaism – 7

Religious Zionism – 6

A bloc of Jewish parties opposing Netanyahu won 48 seats:

Arab-led parties won 19 seats:

That leaves all existing blocs short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, meaning some parties would have to realign or join forces across bloc lines to form a new government.

Israel’s election results must be officially certified and presented to President Isaac Herzog by November 4 .

The new Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10 .

Herzog must task one incoming Knesset member with forming a new government by November 11 . He is expected to make his decision with input from party leaders, selecting the candidate he believes has the best chance of building a coalition.

The candidate commissioned by Herzog has 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible extension of 14 days .

Who will Herzog nominate first to form a government?

He has not said yet, but the most likely candidates are Netanyahu or former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party received the most votes in the opposition bloc.

According to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth media, Eisenkot may have an edge over Netanyahu as some Arab-led parties consider endorsing him in a bid to oust Netanyahu.

Herzog, for his part, has urged Israeli politicians to move away from rigid partisan stances and look for “creative solutions” that will lead to a new government and avoid a second round of elections.

Before the election, Herzog said he would do everything he could to spare the country another election cycle, even if that means pressing for a national unity government that brings together rivals Netanyahu and Eisenkot.

Could the opposition bloc join forces with Arab-led parties?

Eisenkot and other opposition leaders have previously ruled out partnering with the Arab-led parties .

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, however, has said he believes they “can change their mind”, arguing that Netanyahu would do in their position.

“If Netanyahu had a similar problem, he would immediately invite Mansour Abbas”, the leader of Ra’am and “give him the role of a minister of interior”, Barak told France 24 on Friday.

Abbas himself has signalled a willingness to work the opposition camp, saying Eisenkot’s conditions would not pose an obstacle for his party, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

Yousef Jabareen from the Arab-led Joint List has also said that his party is ready for the “ousting of the Netanyahu government”.

“The change comes through Jewish-Arab partnership, a true and equal partnership,” he wrote on X.

Even if Arab-led parties do not formally join the opposition’s coalition, they could prop it up from outside by helping it pass a confidence vote in the Knesset.

Raluca Ganea, co-founder of Israeli civil society group Zazim, told Al Jazeera that a coalition between the opposition bloc and the Arab-led parties representing the Palestinian citizens of Israel “is the only path forward for Israeli democracy as a whole”.

What happens if no one can form a government?

If Herzog’s first candidate fails to form a government within the 42 days, the Israeli president has the option of asking another Knesset member to try to do so within 28 days. If that candidate also fails, a majority of Knesset members could put forward a third candidate, who would have a final 14 days to try to assemble one.

Even without a coalition commanding at least 61 seats, a candidate could still try to form a minority government by relying on outside support from smaller parties, including Arab-led parties, or negotiate a power-sharing arrangement with alternating prime ministers.

If none of these options succeed and deadlock persists, the Knesset would be formally dissolved, and Israelis would return to the polls for another round of elections.

Those elections would have to be called within 90 days.

Who is in charge in the meantime?

Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.

If the process drags out, that could leave Israel’s longest-serving prime minister in power for months more, even if he ultimately fails to become part of the next governing coalition.

在11月10日选举结果正式公布后，总统艾萨克·赫尔佐格必须选定一位候选人组建新政府，随后可能会展开充满争议的谈判。

10月31日，一名抗议者在耶路撒冷以色列总理官邸附近举着标语牌，呼吁组建犹太-阿拉伯联合政府。[法新社]

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡在10月27日的议会选举中失去了其执政联盟的议会多数席位。

但反对内塔尼亚胡的犹太政党联盟也未能赢得120个席位的以色列议会的多数席位，使得以色列组建新政府的道路仍然不明朗。

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以色列选举结果（共3份，第2份）显示，计票已完成，未出现绝对多数的情况。

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接下来几周，以色列各派系可能会陷入政治角力，权衡各种可能的执政方案，包括组建联合政府或依赖外部支持的少数派政府。如果各方未能达成协议，以色列可能再次举行大选。

以下是您应该了解的内容：

以色列大选的最终结果是什么？

支持内塔尼亚胡的联盟赢得了53个席位：

联合托拉犹太教 – 7

宗教犹太复国主义——6

反对内塔尼亚胡的犹太政党联盟赢得了48个席位：

阿拉伯政党赢得19个席位：

这样一来，所有现有政治集团的席位都未达到在以色列议会获得多数所需的 61 个席位，这意味着一些政党必须重新调整联盟或跨越集团界限联合起来，才能组建新政府。

以色列的选举结果必须在11月4日之前得到正式认证并提交给总统伊萨克·赫尔佐格。

新一届以色列议会定于11月10日宣誓就职。

赫尔佐格必须在11月11日之前指派一位即将上任的议员组建新政府。预计他将在听取各党派领导人的意见后做出决定，选择他认为最有希望组建联合政府的候选人。

赫尔佐格委托的候选人有 28 天的时间组建联合政府，并有可能延长 14 天。

赫尔佐格会首先提名谁来组建政府？

他尚未表态，但最有可能的候选人是内塔尼亚胡或前以色列国防军总司令加迪·艾森科特，后者的亚沙尔党在反对派联盟中获得了最多的选票。

据以色列《新消息报》报道，艾森科特可能比内塔尼亚胡更有优势，因为一些阿拉伯政党正在考虑支持他，以期将内塔尼亚胡赶下台。

赫尔佐格则敦促以色列政治家们摒弃僵化的党派立场，寻求“创造性的解决方案”，以组建新政府并避免第二轮选举。

选举前，赫尔佐格表示，他将尽一切努力避免国家再次经历选举周期，即使这意味着推动组建一个由竞争对手内塔尼亚胡和艾森科特组成的民族团结政府。

反对派联盟能否与阿拉伯国家领导的政党联合起来？

艾森科特和其他反对派领导人此前已排除与阿拉伯政党合作的可能性。

然而，前总理埃胡德·巴拉克表示，他相信他们“可以改变主意”，并认为内塔尼亚胡如果处在他们的位置，也会这样做。

巴拉克周五告诉法国24电视台：“如果内塔尼亚胡遇到类似的问题，他会立即邀请拉姆党领导人曼苏尔·阿巴斯，并让他担任内政部长。”

据以色列第 12 频道报道，阿巴斯本人已表示愿意与反对派阵营合作，称艾森科特的条件不会对他的政党构成障碍。

由阿拉伯人领导的联合名单党的尤瑟夫·贾巴林也表示，他的政党已准备好“推翻内塔尼亚胡政府”。

“这种改变源于犹太人和阿拉伯人的伙伴关系，一种真正平等的伙伴关系，”他在X上写道。

即使阿拉伯政党不正式加入反对派联盟，他们也可以通过帮助该联盟在以色列议会通过信任投票，从外部支持它。

以色列公民社会团体 Zazim 的联合创始人拉鲁卡·加内亚 (Raluca Ganea) 告诉半岛电视台，反对派联盟与代表以色列巴勒斯坦公民的阿拉伯政党之间的联盟“是以色列民主整体上唯一的前进道路”。

如果没人能组建政府怎么办？

如果赫尔佐格的第一位候选人在42天内未能组建政府，以色列总统可以选择让另一位议员在28天内尝试组阁。如果这位候选人也失败了，议会多数议员可以推选第三位候选人，这位候选人将在最后14天内尝试组阁。

即使没有获得至少 61 个席位的联盟，候选人仍然可以依靠包括阿拉伯政党在内的小党派的外部支持来尝试组建少数派政府，或者与轮流担任总理的领导人谈判达成权力分享安排。

如果以上选项均不成功，僵局持续，以色列议会将正式解散，以色列人将再次投票举行新一轮选举。

这些选举必须在90天内举行。

目前由谁负责？

内塔尼亚胡将继续担任看守总理，直到新政府组建完成。

如果这一过程拖延下去，即使以色列任期最长的总理最终未能加入下一届执政联盟，他仍可能继续掌权数月之久。