‘So We Won’: Yair Lapid Claims Anti-Netanyahu Bloc’s Victory, Says Netanyahu Has ‘Nowhere’ To Form Government

Jerusalem: Israel's Opposition Leader and B'Yachad No. 2 Yair Lapid has declared a victory for the anti-Netanyahu majority following the election results, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no viable path to forming a government, while urging supporters to exercise patience as coalition negotiations begin. 

In a lengthy post on X on Friday, Lapid acknowledged that the results did not deliver an outright majority for his camp but maintained that the outcome represented a political victory, pointing to voter turnout and the number of seats secured by Netanyahu's bloc.  

"The people showed up," Lapid said, referring to the voter turnout of 77.7 per cent, which he highlighted as the "highest" since 1999. 

"Netanyahu got 53 seats. A crash. Even from that small number, 13 seats belong to parties that declare they aren't Zionist. That leaves him 40. That's what he's got. No matter what he does, he has nowhere to pull a government from," he said.   

Declaring victory for the opposition camp, Lapid said, "So we won. It's not a knockout victory. It's a points victory. That counts too. A win is a win." 

He acknowledged that forming a government would be challenging and said the opposition owed it to voters who had participated in the election to make efforts towards forming a coalition. 

"Now comes the truly hard part: trying to form a government. We owe it to those who stood in line on Tuesday, to those who flew in especially, to those who stood outside the polling station for eight hours and convinced people," he said. 

Lapid cautioned that the coalition-building process would not be straightforward, adding, "It'll be tough. I don't have a certificate of insurance. It's not an exact science and not even mechanics--it's a convoluted political process." 

However, he said the opposition had something it did not have before the election, referring to what he called "an enormous Israeli majority that declared this is what it wants." 

Calling on supporters to remain patient during the negotiations, Lapid said, "So I need to ask something from you that's hard to ask of Israelis: patience." 

Explaining the difference between an election campaign and government formation, he said the former was public and fast-paced, while the latter required quiet and careful negotiations. 

"Forming a government is the exact opposite. It's done in small rooms, slowly, without cameras. Whoever talks about it is usually not really involved in the process," he wrote. 

Using the analogy of a watchmaker, Lapid urged supporters not to interpret the silence surrounding coalition negotiations as a lack of progress. 

"This is the time of the watchmakers, not the gong-strikers," he said. 

He further explained, "A watchmaker doesn't make noise. He sits with a magnifying glass, moves one gear, then another. In the end, the clock works. No one knows how he did it, or how long it took. The main thing is that the time is right."  

Lapid indicated that discussions were underway despite the absence of public updates, saying, "If you want to know if something's happening behind the silence you're hearing now, the answer is yes." 

His remarks come as the Central Elections Committee of Israel on Friday published the final results of the national election, confirming the distribution of seats in the 26th Knesset, which is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10. The pro-Netanyahu bloc secured 53 seats, falling short of the majority required to form a government. 

According to The Times of Israel, the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged as the largest party with 27 seats, followed by Yashar with 21 seats. 

B’Yachad secured 12 seats, while the Joint List won 11. The Democrats and Ra’am secured eight seats each, while Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit won seven seats each. Shas and Religious Zionism secured six seats apiece. 

The final results leave the pro-Netanyahu bloc with 53 seats, the anti-Netanyahu bloc with 48 seats and the Arab factions with 19 seats, according to The Times of Israel. 

The final voter turnout stood at 77.9 per cent of eligible voters, with 5,716,665 votes cast. 

The Reservists, which secured 2.7 per cent of the vote, People of Israel with 1.7 per cent and Charedi Public with 0.2 per cent failed to cross the 3.25 per cent electoral threshold. 

The final official results will be submitted to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on November 4, following examinations of possible errors or inquiries. The newly elected Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10. 

Meanwhile, Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism-Zehut party, reportedly met to coordinate their efforts following the election, according to Hebrew media reports cited by The Times of Israel. 

While Likud emerged as the largest party in the election, the coalition bloc supporting Netanyahu failed to secure a majority in the Knesset. 

Addressing the next steps, Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult party representatives following the formal publication of the final results before nominating the candidate deemed to have the strongest prospects of forming a government. Should that designated leader fail, an alternative figure may receive the mandate, while an inability to complete the process within the mandated timeframe could ultimately precipitate fresh elections. 

The establishment of a minority government led by Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot, with outside support from Arab parties, is considered unlikely or impossible, as said by Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas, according to Channel 12 News, as cited by The Times of Israel. Abbas expressed this view during a meeting with party members. 

Only the Democrats have expressed openness to including Arab-majority parties, as reported by The Times of Israel.  

Exploring potential configurations, a unity government encompassing Likud alongside opposition factions such as Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett’s Together movement and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu could theoretically command 66 seats. 

Nevertheless, such an arrangement appears unlikely at present, given the opposition’s campaign pledge to remove Netanyahu from power and his dependence on far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies. Alternatively, the combined tally held by Arab parties could prove decisive should Eisenkot’s bloc attempt to establish a minority administration supported from outside the governing coalition, reinforcing Abbas’s earlier scepticism. 

Amid these ongoing political manoeuvres, the final vote count has unfolded amid intense controversy surrounding allegations of election interference and voter fraud. CEC chairman Noam Sohlberg formally requested Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate suspicions that foreign entities may have sought to influence voting patterns within the Arab sector. 

However, the committee maintained that there was no empirical basis to support claims of systematic compromise to the integrity of the ballot.