Lapid calls anti-Netanyahu bloc's election result a 'win on points' as coalition talks begin

Jerusalem, Oct 30 : Opposition leader and B'Yachad No. 2 Yair Lapid has described the anti-Netanyahu bloc's performance in Tuesday's election as a "win on points", despite failing to secure the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority, and urged supporters to remain patient as efforts to form a government get underway.

In a post on X on Friday, Lapid said the opposition had fallen short of its hoped-for decisive victory but argued that the outcome represented a significant setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The anti-Netanyahu bloc secured a combined 67 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while Netanyahu's alliance won 53 seats, with Likud emerging as the largest party with 27 seats. However, the opposition faces difficulties in translating its numerical advantage into a governing majority because three Jewish-led parties — Yashar, B'Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu — have refused to join a coalition with the predominantly Arab Joint List and Ra'am.

Lapid pointed out that 13 of Netanyahu's 53 seats came from ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas, which won seven and six seats respectively. Excluding them, he argued, Netanyahu's core bloc was left with just 40 seats, leaving him without a clear path to forming a government.

" So we won. It wasn't a knockout; it was a win on points. But points count too. A win is a win," Lapid said, expressing confidence in the opposition's prospects.

He said the opposition, led by Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, would make every possible effort to form a government, although the outcome remained uncertain. Lapid also urged the public not to expect immediate developments, stressing that coalition negotiations required time and discretion.

Meanwhile, Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats party, renewed his appeal for Jewish-led opposition parties to cooperate with Arab parties, arguing that excluding their combined 19 seats would undermine democratic representation.

The Joint List and Ra'am secured a record 19 seats, almost double their combined strength of 10 in the outgoing Knesset. The Jewish-led opposition parties won 48 seats.

In an opinion article published in Haaretz on Friday, Golan argued that every citizen's vote carried equal weight, irrespective of religious or ethnic background. He is the only leader of a Jewish-led opposition party to openly support cooperation with Ra'am and the Joint List.

Golan, whose party won eight seats, met Eisenkot, Lapid and Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas on Thursday. However, Eisenkot, B'Yachad leader Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman have largely ruled out such an arrangement.

The newly elected Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10, regardless of whether negotiations to form the next government have concluded. Coalition talks are expected to be challenging and could continue for more than two months.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is also exploring possible political arrangements. According to media reports, he held discussions this week with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism-Zehut party, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of Otzma Yehudit.

Netanyahu reportedly sought to reassure both allies that he intended to maintain the right-wing alliance amid speculation that he could consider forming a government with parties outside the existing bloc.

"We are together and we are staying together," Netanyahu reportedly told them, according to Channel 14.

Correct the opening quote spacingClarify the seat-count contradiction