With Regular Votes Counted, Netanyahu-led Bloc Remains Firmly Ahead

All the regular ballots cast in Tuesday’s election in Israel were counted by just after noon on Wednesday. The Central Elections Committee has moved on to the counting of some 500,000 double envelopes containing the ballots cast by soldiers, prisoners, and diplomats. People with disabilities and people in isolation due to COVID-19 infections, also cast double-envelope ballots.

According to the results so far, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party will receive 31 seats in the new Knesset, with Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party at 24 seats. The right-wing block currently sits at 65 seats, which is enough to form a majority government in the 120-seat parliament. Other party totals include Religious Zionism, 14; National Unity, 12; Shas, 12; United Torah Judaism, 8; Yisrael Beitenu, 5; Ra’am, 5; Hadash-Ta’al, 5 and Labor, 4. The left-wing Meretz party likely will not cross the electoral threshold, leading some on the left to accuse Lapid of “cannibalizing” other parties in his bloc in order to have a higher seat total. Some 4,843,023 Israelis voted in Tuesday’s election – 71.3% of eligible voters.

To look back on how Election Day unfolded and to see video reports by The Media Line journalists at the headquarters of several political parties as the exit poll results and first vote totals were announced, go to our Israel Elections 2022 blog.