Israelis voted on October 27, but there appears to be no clear winner. The next government, like every government in Israel’s history, will have to be a coalition. The question now is who can secure at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats to form a government and become Israel’s next prime minister.
Al Jazeera has built an interactive tool that lets you test different combinations of parties. Start with any of the four exit polls or enter your own seat numbers. Then add parties until your coalition reaches 61 seats.
You can add an entire bloc at once or select parties individually. Initial counting by the Central Elections Committee put Likud ahead as the largest single party, with 27 seats. Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 54 seats, against 50 for Eisenkot’s.
Four exit polls published on election night showed how close the race is. Kan 11 and Channel 13 put Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc level at 51 seats each. Channel 12 gave Netanyahu 52 seats to Eisenkot’s 49, while Channel 15 was most favourable to the incumbent, projecting 55 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc against 49 for the opposition.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats. Parties win seats in proportion to their share of the national vote, provided they clear the 3.25 percent threshold to enter parliament. A government needs the support of at least 61 politicians to secure a majority.
Neither of the main blocs has reached that number in the exit polls or the initial count. The next step is to find enough parties willing to join forces to make up the difference. The Arab-led parties Ra’am and the Joint List could hold the balance of power, with exit polls putting their combined support at between 16 and 19 seats.
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