Prime Minister Netanyahu lost majority in Israeli parliament | Abroad

All the votes have been counted and the number of seats is known, but the official result will not be announced until Friday. Netanyahu leads the largest party, right-wing Likud, with 30 seats, but even with the allies it becomes very difficult to get a majority.

A party of Israeli-born Palestinians could theoretically help secure the majority, but that’s unthinkable, according to Israeli media, because Netanyahu’s far-right religious allies don’t like Arab Israelis to say the least.

Tuesday’s poll was the fourth in two years due to fragmented politics and the resulting dilapidated government coalitions, which ended in an early poll. But Netanyahu has managed to become prime minister of a coalition six times in the past quarter century.

If the formation of a coalition government fails, the country may have to vote again this fall. A stable coalition can lead the country to the next elections for four years.