Netanyahu rivals face impossible political decision following official election results: Bibi, Arabs, or failure?

The official results of this week’s Israeli election have been released, and as many observers forecasted, the ethnic Arab political parties have successfully positioned themselves as kingmakers. The only problem is finding someone who would accept their crown.

The alliance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite winning a 53-seat plurality in the Knesset, fell short of the 61-seat threshold necessary to form a government. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot scored 48 seats. The two Arab parties, Joint List and Ra’am, seated 19 lawmakers in the parliament — nearly doubling their presence.

Opposition leaders promised in their campaigns not to work with Netanyahu. If they want to keep their promise and still seize the opportunity to form a government, it will require them to break a serious political taboo. They will need to join forces with the Arabs.

A screen projects an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his main rival, opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar (“Straight”) party, during a campaign rally for Eisenkot ahead of Israel’s general election, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

An enthusiastic advocate for such a partnership has already emerged. Democratic leader Yair Golan is warning that the alternative to cooperation with Joint List and Ra-am is a Netanyahu-led “extreme ultra-Orthodox theocracy, mired in bloodshed.”

“Anyone who believes in democracy cannot defend it in the morning and, by evening, reject the votes of hundreds of thousands of citizens because of their origins or names,” Golan wrote in a Friday op-ed.

The Democrats won eight seats in this week’s election, doubling their power and gaining a shred of relevance after support for its predecessor Labor Party collapsed in 2019.

“We’ll continue to have disagreements with the Arab parties,” Golan continued. “We’ll set out our demands, stand firm on our security and national principles, and conduct tough, substantive negotiations, just as we do with every other Knesset faction. But we won’t delegitimize people, nor will we accept the rules imposed by Netanyahu’s ‘poison machine’ to keep itself in power.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman has emerged as perhaps the most prominent critic of an Arab alliance among opposition party leaders, rejecting it as an insulting proposition.

“We will not sit with supporters of terrorism!” Liberman declared on Friday. “Shame on anyone who wants to lean on supporters of terror. Yisrael Beytenu will not be part of it.”

The Yisrael Beytenu leader directed his ire toward Ofer Cassif, the only seated Jewish lawmaker with Joint List, who supported the South African appeal for the International Court of Justice to punish Israel. He also attacked members of Joint List and Ra’am who sang the Palestinian national anthem on Election Day and refused to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Liberman is so angry at the idea, in fact, that he has reportedly cut contacts with his fellow opposition leaders and is now urging for a unity government.

Mukhles Burghal, a volunteer with the Joint List Party, looks at a board showing election results at a campaign office in the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Lod, central Israel, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo)

Eisenkot repeatedly and emphatically rejected the idea of working with the Arab parties while on the campaign trail.

He previously outlined basic criteria for any party to seek cooperation with his alliance: recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state; endorsement of the values contained in the Israeli Declaration of Independence, condemnation of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and support for universal conscription.

The latter criteria rule out partnership with ultra-orthodox parties, which are universally opposed to changes in conscription standards that would force Hasids into service.

Netanyahu has accused the Arab parties of having “stolen” the election with aid from foreign state actors, namely Qatar. The Gulf state quickly swatted down that accusation as “ridiculous and dangerous.”

AN INCONCLUSIVE OUTCOME TO ISRAEL’S FIRST ELECTION SINCE THE OCT. 7 INVASION

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of Israel’s election committee, has said he received “serious suspicions” of foreign interference in the election, but a committee letter has warned that “allegations of systematic violations of electoral integrity are baseless.”

If no party is able to coordinate a workable alliance, Israeli citizens will be called back to the polls for another round of voting.

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