Israel's election sees two main political parties deadlocked and no clear winner

[applegrove]

Israel’s election sees two main political parties deadlocked and no clear winner

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Link to tweet

"SNIP.....

Israel’s two main political parties are deadlocked after national elections, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to keep his job.

Seeming kingmaker Avigdor Lieberman says Wednesday he’ll insist upon a secular unity government between Netanyahu’s Likud and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White parties, who are currently tied.

Lieberman says that is the “one and only option” on the table.

Without Lieberman’s endorsement, both parties appear to have fallen well short of securing a parliamentary majority with ideological allies.



.....SNIP"

[Israeli]

1. 2pm here ....

93% of votes counted , Blue and White have 32 seats , Likud 31 .

Bibi is done , there is no way he can build a coalition.

The Joint Arab party is now the third largest party
Bibi's incitement against them backfired on him .

No rejoicing yet …..now comes the coalition building .

[Scurrilous]

2. ...

[sabbat hunter]

3. what will the coalition look like

A grand coalition between Likud, and Blue and white? Will they include Yisrael Beiteinu, . Its leader Avigdor Lieberman wants to be the third party in that coalition.

Likud doesn't have enough mandates to form a hard right coalition with UTJ and Shas, and Lieberman said he will not join any coalition that includes those two parties. And I cannot blame him.

Blue and White would love to form a center left coalition with the Arab Joint list party, Labor, Democratic Camp, but that one is short, would need Lieberman's party to join to put them over the top. No way I can see Lieberman joining that coalition. But maybe he will surprise me.

Most likely IMHO it will be Blue and White/Likud in a coalition, perhaps with a rotation of the PM, with Gentz going first. Either that or a third round of elections.

Personally I think Israel needs to raise the threshold to 5% to get into the Knesset, or do some sort of 'topping off' system that Greece has.

[Israeli]

4. I would suggest waiting .....

The IDF votes are still being counted , we are at 95% total counted so far , could make a difference .

I cannot see the country going to a third round, it cost billions for this one ….and the President has already said he will not
go there .

They have to build a coalition or a unity gov .

One thing is very clear …..nobody from the center left will accept Bibi nor will Lieberman and his secular right wing Russian party .

[sabbat hunter]

5. And I hope the coalition

Excludes the religious nut jobs of UTJ and Shas

[Israeli]

6. If only our " religious nut jobs " ......

…..were limited to UTJ and Shas but they are not as you are well aware .

I found this for you in English , its a game we are all playing :

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/EXT-INTERACTIVE-election-results-israel-2019-polls-netanyahu-gantz-1.7695785

Try and form your own coalition , not easy

[sabbat hunter]

7. I know they aren't

limited to Shas and UTJ but those are the worst of the worst

Israel needs to add in a 'top up' like Greece has for the largest party to make it easier for them to form a coalition.
Best I could do with the coalition, is one that would never happen

Blue and white, Labor/Gesher, Democratic Union, United List, and Lieberman's party. Keeps Likud out it. But Lieberman will never allow it.

Alternatively it is Blue and White, Likud, Democratic Union, Labor/Gesher. And Bibi out of power.

[mapol]

8. Let's hope Bibi Netanyahu doesn't get re-elected.

The last thing that Israel needs is another term of Binyamin Netanyahu in office!

[Israeli]

9. Shas and UTJ are a threat to our

secular way of life but they are not the "worst of the worst ".

The "worst of the worst" are those Bibi is building his coalition with .

Your dream team identical to mine …….took a blow tho :

While the Israeli Arab party announced that it endorses Gantz, that moved was stunted by the decision of Balad – one of the four parties that make up the alliance – not to recommend Gantz to Rivlin as the suitable candidate to form a government. The party's endorsement was rare, since it which did not back a prime ministerial candidate since the Hadash faction supported the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1992.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-israel-election-results-netanyahu-gantz-begin-negotiations-over-new-government-1.7890115

" Alternatively it is Blue and White, Likud, Democratic Union, Labor/Gesher. And Bibi out of power. "

Beginning to look that way …...its also what Lieberman wants :

After his meeting with Gantz on Monday, Lieberman took to Facebook to explain in a post that during their meeting, he “repeated and clarified what I have said since the beginning of the election campaign. For Yisrael Beiteinu, there is only one option on the table, and it is the establishment of a unity government with the three parties: Yisrael Beiteinu, Likud and Kahol Lavan.”
Lieberman had announced on Sunday that he wouldn't endorse Netanyahu or Gantz.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-israel-election-results-netanyahu-gantz-begin-negotiations-over-new-government-1.7890115

[sabbat hunter]

10. Imagine if

there is a Blue and White, Likud(sans bibi), Labor/Gesher, Democratic Union, and Lieberman is out in the cold? He probably will throw a fit.

[sabbat hunter]

11. FUCK!

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/463030-netanyahu-nominated-to-form-israeli-unity-government

WTF!?!?!

[Israeli]

12. *sigh*

…….because of the block size :

Neither Netanyahu nor Gantz has the support of enough of the 120 Knesset members to claim a potential 61-MK government for their right-wing and center-left blocs, respectively.

Likud is now leading a bloc of 55 Knesset members, including the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties. Blue and White has 54 MKs in its bloc, despite having one more seat in the Knesset than the LIkud's 32.

Anxious to avoid a third round of elections within a year, Rivlin had been pressing for the two parties to come together in government.

Netanyahu has 28 days to build a coalition, If he is unsuccessful, he may ask for an additional two weeks, which it is the president's prerogative to grant.


Failure to ultimately form a government means the mandate will then likely be given to Gantz as the leader of the second largest faction.

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5597084,00.html

[sabbat hunter]

13. Israel needs to

find a way to limit the splintering of the vote. Either increase the threshold, or do a top off system like Greece does to make the largest single party get 'topped off' with extra votes so they can form a coalition, or have a majority on their own more easily. Imagine if Blue and White after getting the most mandates got topped off with an extra 20 mandates so they would have 54 on their own, then would only need Labor and Democratic union to form a coalition.

Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation electoral system which discourages splinter parties and makes a parliamentary majority possible even if the leading party falls short of a majority of the popular vote. Under the current electoral law, any single party must receive at least a 3% nationwide vote tally in order to elect Members of Parliament (the so-called "3% threshold&quot . The largest party gets a 50-seat bonus (out of 300 seats) ostensibly to ensure elections return viable governing majorities.

The law in its current form favors the first past the post party to achieve an absolute (151 parliamentary seats) majority, provided it receives a 41%+ nationwide vote. This is touted to enhance governmental stability. The electoral law can be changed by simple parliamentary majority, but a law so changed only becomes enforced in the election following the upcoming one, unless it is voted by the Greek Parliament with a majority of ​2⁄3 of the total number of the deputies.