Benny Gantz, Mr Netanyahu’s chief rival, does not appear able to form a viable coalition
AFTER MONTHS of heated campaigning, Israeli voters decided to change very little. With most of the votes counted the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, appears to have won a fifth term in office. His Likud party is tied with Blue and White, a centre-left party led by Benny Gantz, a former chief of the armed forces. Both have 26% of the vote. But the right-wing and religious bloc, of which Likud is a part, won a combined 54%.
That may be a challenge—though not because of politics. Mr Netanyahu has been indicted, pending a hearing, in three corruption cases. Prosecutors accuse him of taking gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for favours and offering legal and regulatory help to media giants in order to secure better press coverage. He denies any wrongdoing. The allegations did not hurt his popularity at the polls.
Other Israelis did not vote at all. Turnout was 68%, about four points lower than in 2015. Parties that cater to Arab citizens of Israel received just 328,000 votes, a 36% drop. One of them is only about 7,500 votes over the threshold, and may yet drop out. Mr Netanyahu, for his part, will be worried about his future. His allies have proposed a bill that would shield a sitting prime minister from prosecution. Mr Netanyahu insists that he has nothing to do with the effort. When asked about it in recent interviews, however, he refused to rule it out. Some of his prospective coalition partners oppose the legislation. Mr Netanyahu may seek to win their support by making other concessions, regardless of the consequences.
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