Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats, said he met Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas Thursday as Israel’s opposition weighed coalition options after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc fell short of a majority in KAN’s provisional count.
Anadolu Agency reported that Golan announced the meeting in a post on X and described it as an effort to build an alternative government. Abbas had not commented by 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC), Anadolu reported.
KAN, Israel’s public broadcaster, reported that its count gave Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats, the Change bloc 48 and Arab parties 19 in the 120-seat Knesset. A majority requires 61 seats, and final results remained subject to verification.
Ra’am joined an Israeli governing coalition in 2021, becoming the first Arab-led party to do so, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. EconoTimes has previously covered Arab parties’ potential role in coalition talks.
The Central Elections Committee timetable lists Nov. 4 for publication of official results.
