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Final Count: Right-Wing Bloc Has 64 Seats, UTJ Loses Seat, Lapid Concedes

Binyamin Netanyahu (AP)

The Central Elections Committee published the final tally of votes on Thursday evening, with the final count giving the right-wing bloc 64 seats after the Yisrael Beiteinu party gained one seat at the loss of UTJ, which decreased from eight seats to seven.

Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening to concede the race.

The far-left Meretz party is officially out of the Knesset for the first time since 1992.

The largest party is Likud, with 32 mandates, Yesh Atid has 24, and the Religious Zionist Party is the third largest party – with 14 seats. Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party has 12 seats, Shas – 11, UTJ – 7, the Islamist Ra’am party – 5, Hadash-Ta’al – 5, Yisrael Beiteinu – 6, and Labor – 4.

The Likud party has begun preparations for coalition negotiations and Likud MK Yariv Levin has been appointed to head the negotiations. Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid is expected to call Netanyahu later on Thursday to concede the race.

Rejoicing at the home of Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on Wednesday morning after Shacharis:

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



40 Responses

  1. The parties are the right (nationalist and/or religious) did not splinter (as they have often done in the past), and the parties on the left did. Had they planned better, Balad would have been on a joint list with another “Arab” party, and Meretz would have been on a joint list with Labor, the results would have been much closer.

  2. I am still trying comprehend if the Religious Parties did so well because of the Hercune valiant efforts of the new dedicated Godol HaDor Moreinu HoRav Gershon Edelstein shlita? or because the venerated Moreinu HoRav Chaim Kanievsky ZTKLLH”H has been such an incredibly Meilitz Yosher?

  3. 147: I suggest that the religious parties (whether Hareidi or Zionist) doing well was due to nothing any rabbanim said, but more on what motivated those rabbanim, Lapid turned the election into a referendum on the future of Torah in Eretz Yisrael. He asked if the Israelis wanted a country free from Torah (the “Am Hofshi” of the zionist anthem), and from all types of Jews the answer was “no.”

    Historically, the medinah’s major parties (in the past Labor, and on the other side Herut/Gahal/Likud) were not especially anti-Torah, nor overly pro-Torah. Even people such as Ben Gurion, who hated Yiddishkeit, was a smart enough politician to realize that in a democracy you can NOT win elections by running on a platform of cancelling a group that is over half the population (and I’m counting anyone who observes Shabbos in some form, or keeps kashrus in some form at least some of the time, as being “religious” enough to object to cancelling Torah).

    This time, under the leadership of Mr. Lapid (the younger), one of the two major parties was openly anti-Torah, and led a coalition dominated my parties that were openly opposed to Yiddishkeit in all its forms (not just anti-chareidi, but anti-Yiddishkeit, with hatred against not just of the shtreimel but also the kippah sruggah). The fact that the Lapid-led coalition also called for dismantling Jewish communities in the West Bank was also a factor, both in helping Likud and also in annoying my non-secular voters who are more likely than the average Israeli to live in the West Bank.

  4. 147, Stop making Choizek of Rav Gershon Shlit”a who is a true tzadik.
    The reson they did so well is because there are a lot of religious zionists living in Israel now. The reason is because most of the Americans making aliya now are from the Young Israel/YU crowd. Very few yeshivishe are going to Israel for long term.

  5. lapid in his maninfesto said he would fight for “lgbt-toeiva rights”, this during the week of parshas Noach. no more lgbt rights with Bibi.

  6. The country cannot survive on Torah alone. In Israel, the amount of chareidi doctors, lawyers, architects, city planners, engineers etc are almost negligible. This has got to change if Israel will thrive. Torah learning is great but it can’t be done almost the entire Chareidi male population or Israel will never survive. This is not being anti-torah. This is being realistic. Maybe having a government that is trusted more by the Chareidim will help make progress in this direction but I am not optimistic.

  7. The ONLY reason that the right wing/torah won is because THAT’S WHAT HASHEM WANTS. No other calculations except that!!

  8. jbs36 the Torah is the zchus for the Zionists, let the umas haolam do the literal heavy lifting havent you seen how many rich gevirim there are like Schron, Fruchthandler, Lichtenstein, Scheiner etc. that make millions without a college education?

  9. Jbs I didn’t know YWN allows hard core kefira on their site. I don’t know who you are or where you come from but the reality is that if the entire klal yisroel wakes up tomorrow somehow and makes a full commitment to Torah moshiach will arrive immediately and boy are we going to survive. And I know what your thinking. Hishtadlus!! So if you think you can say kefira and hide behind hishtadlus then you got some learning to do

  10. coffee addict, JBS isn’t talking about “getting a job.” He (she?), one assumes, means acquiring and using high-level professional skills that give one a good material standard of living *and* contribute to a healthy economy (that — I add — can easily and willingly support a reasonable number of high-quality Torah scholars).

  11. ANON21, I’ve been learning Pele Yoetz, and if you’ve done the same you’ve noticed that R. Papo considers full-time Torah study a great zechut reserved for the hashgaha-blessed few. For the rest of us, he recommends learning a trade and turning to hakhamim for advice and psak.

  12. Let’s make sure to remind ourselves who is the real ruler of Israel and the entire world 24-7…. HASHEM king of kings and ruler of the entire world.. .

    Lev melochim vsorim byad Hashem……

  13. Anon21, what Jbs said is stated in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 156.
    Lakewoodbt, and others without a degree struggle to earn a decent living.

  14. thank you Bibi for staying on board to remain here and now our PM Shared is shameful Lapid is should move to an Arab land as he is most ungrateful…How dare Torah not be in Israel….those who think other your body can move to any Christian land of choice….

  15. Bibi Melech Israel. All the religious and chareidi haters like the Rascha Lieberman and Lapid and even Bennet and Kahana who wanted to change the Jewish stat into a goische medine got their punishment now.
    They dont wanted to be a Jewish state,they wantet to be a goisch state like it says in the Hatikwa lijot am Chowshi ben Arzenu

  16. mdd1 – Shulchan Aruch was written by our Gedolei Yisroel as part of our mesorah, which is passed down and interpreted based on each generations exact situations by Gedolei Yisroel in each generation. See introduction of Reb Moshe Feinstein to Igros Moshe, See Drashas Haran, See Sefer Hachinuch at the end of the Mitzvah of Lo Sosur Min Hadavar Asher Yagidu Lecha Yomin Usmoel. So decided by Gedolei Yisroel like Reb Moshe, Reb Aaron, the Steiplir, Brisker Rav, Rav Shach, Rav Elyashiv, Reb Shlomo Zalman, Reb Chaim, and YBLCT’A Rav Edelstein in the Yeshiva world – and similarly by Torah leaders in every part of Klal Yisroel who BTW talk to each other a lot. So not decided by you believe it or not on on YWN comments section. And yes those who denigrate Torah leaders and the value of Torah are playing around with their Olam Haba (but hopefully it’s just lack of knowledge and they will do Teshuva iy’h).

  17. This news leaves me with the question: Is this good for the Jews? Not clear to me that it is. Is clear to me that BenGvir in the cabinet or with any appointment from the government is bad for the Jews. And then there is the pending investigation about Bibi’s hands in the cookie jar.

  18. Your numbers are not correct. The numbers you posted were from when less than 95% of votes were counted.
    Religious Zionists have 14 (not 15)
    UTJ has 7 (not 8)

  19. In my earlier comment, I omitted one important point: I don’t live in Israel, and so my opinions are not that consequential. Citizens can vote, kibitzers can only kibitz.

  20. But, sure let’s support the Israeli government. I mean it’s not like they tried to kill peaceful and native Jews who apposed the idea of a state back in the 1930’s and it’s not like they didn’t tell the British to send back boats of Jewish refugees trying to escape hitlers wrath in the early 1940’s either so that you know people will feel bad for ‘us’ and give us a state. And it’s also completely false that young children of Jewish immigrants (that were running from arabic countries – you know those) were kidnapped and placed in secular homes, taken away from their families and heritage. No, none of that could possibly be true. The government and statehood of Israel was of entirely innocent formation. Right? No police brutality, I mean it couldn’t possibly be. I’m just watching an illusion. Right?

  21. Beshtei-Einaim, I understand that this is how you were taught. However, if it says in the S.A., it is what it is. It is not subject to new interpretations in every generation. We are not Reform. Stop with your false accusations of bizayon Ha’Torah!

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