No winners in Israel, difficult negotiations for unity government are expected

None of the political forces, along with the Allies, managed to secure enough seats to create a parliamentary majority, which increases the possibility of protracted and difficult negotiations for a unity government.

In order to attract nationalist voters, Netanyahu said that if he won the election, he would annex all Jewish settlements in the West Coast.

But even this strong pledge did not produce enough votes to reach the majority of 61 countries in the 120-seat Israeli District.

The preliminary election results in the Jewish state put former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the role of “kingmaker“.

His secular hardline party, Yisrael Beitnou, which received much Russian support from speakers, appears to have doubled its performance compared to the April elections.

Election results question Netanyahu's future. The longest-lived leader in Israeli politics called for holding new elections after failing to create a coalition government several months ago.

Over the next few days, attention is expected to be directed to President Raven Rivlin, who is responsible for the appointment of a candidate who in his conviction will have the best chance of creating the government. /tch