A win is a win,” Lapid said (Photos: Agencies). “It’s not a knockout victory. It’s a points victory. That counts too.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s bloc won 53 seats, and his Likud party became the largest single party with 27. Still, Netanyahu also lacks a clear route to the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. The Times of Israel reported.
Israel’s outgoing opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is also the second most prominent leader in the B’Yachad alliance, has claimed that the anti-Netanyahu bloc “won” the election, even though it fell short of an outright victory. In a post on X, Lapid said that Netanyahu’s opponents had hoped for “a clear, immediate victory”, but maintained that the outcome should nonetheless be seen as a win for the opposition. He called on the public to be patient while the bloc looks for ways to form a government. Three of the four Jewish-led parties in the bloc (Yashar, B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu) have rejected the idea of sitting in a coalition with the predominantly Arab Joint List and Ra’am.
Lapid said the opposition bloc, headed by Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot, would use every means available to form a government, though he admitted the process would be hard and success was not assured. He requested “patience” from the public, explaining that forming a government is the opposite of an election campaign and happens behind closed doors, out of view of the cameras.