Israel releases final election results, Netanyahu, Gantz hold equal share

5 years ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives an address from his office in Jerusalem on 3 April 2019, announcing that the remains of Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel, a soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon war, had been returned to the country. [MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images]

Benny Gantz, former Israeli military chief of staff, and presidential candidate, speaks during an electoral campaign gathering on 19 February 2019, in Tel Aviv [JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images]

Benny Gantz, leader of Israel’s largest opposition party Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) in Tel Aviv on 19 February 2019 [JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 4 October 2018 [Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images]

Israel’s Central Elections Committee yesterday announced the final results of Israel’s election, after undertaking initial inspection of the vote count to ensure no anomalies were found.

The final vote count showed that incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party lost one seat, giving it 35 seats. This means that the Likud party tied victory with Benny Gantz’s Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) alliance but, since Netanyahu received the most recommendations from party representatives this week, he will still be tasked with forming the next government.

The seat lost by Likud went to ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism, increasing its seats to eight.

The final seats for each party are therefore as follows:

Likud: 35 seats.
Blue and White (Kahol Lavan): 35 seats.
Shas: eight seats.
United Torah Judaism (UTJ): eight seats.
Hadash-Ta’al: six seats.
Israeli Labor: six seats.
Yisrael Beiteinu: five seats.
Union of Right Wing Parties (URWP): five seats.
Meretz: four seats.
Kulanu: four seats.
Ra’am-Balad: four seats.

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