Everything You Need to Know About Israel’s Elections

On Tuesday of this last week, all across Israel’s cities, Israelis headed to the polls for the fifth time in the last three and a half years. This time around, Israel’s voters came out in larger numbers, and with a distinct purpose in mind: to end the seemingly endless cycle of failed government coalitions. The result of Tuesday’s election was a big win for the right-wing block of parties led by Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Yesterday, as the last votes were counted, the final results of Israel’s election came in. Winning 32 seats for his party, Likud, former Prime Minister and current Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has the largest party in the Knesset, and will most likely be tapped by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog to form a majority coalition. The other right-wing parties that were elected have already said that they will join a coalition led by Netanyahu, so here in the next couple of weeks you can expect to see a strong right-wing government be established in Israel’s Knesset. 

Here is the breakdown of the election on Tuesday and the seats each of the parties received: (blue = right-wing, green = left-wing, red = Arab)

• Likud – 32 seats 
• Yesh Atid – 24 seats
• Religious Zionism – 14 seats 
• National Unity – 12 seats 
• Shas – 11 seats 
• UTJ – 7 seats 
• Yisrael Beytenu – 6 seats 
• Ra’am – 5 seats 
• Hadash Ta’al – 5 seats 
• Labor – 4 seats 

There are 120 seats in the Knesset, and Netanyahu needs a majority of 61 seats to form a government coalition. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, plus the other three right-wing parties -Religious Zionism, Shas, and UTJ – received a collective 64 seats. This will enable Benjamin Netanyahu to form a strong coalition government. 

This election is a huge win for the political right here in Israel. It also brings a sigh of relief for most Israeli citizens, even the ones who don’t necessarily lean right or left. For the first time in over three and a half years, Israel will be able to operate with a stable, functional government. A government that is not under the constant threat of falling apart due to massive ideological differences between parties.  

Also, this is the first all right-wing government that Israel has seen in awhile. Even though the last stable government led by Netanyahu from 2015-2019 could have technically been considered a right-wing government, there were a few parties in the government that would have been considered center or even left-leaning, leading to a lot of ideological disagreements.  Now, with Likud, Religious Zionism, Shas, and UTJ (United Torah Judaism) poised to form a majority government together, they all share the same core right-wing ideologies. 

All in all, this is incredible for the state of Israel, especially Judea and Samaria. As we saw in this last Lapid-led government, the attitude and policies of the government toward Israel’s Biblical Heartland were terrible for the nearly 850,000 residents of the area. 

Merav Michaeli, the leader of the Labor Party, made a statement that as Transportation Minister, she would not start any new transportation projects inside of Judea and Samaria because according to her: “It’s a shame to invest in a place that at the end of the day, won’t be part of Israel.” 

A month and a half ago, Prime Minister Yair Lapid made a speech at the U.N. General Assembly shamelessly declaring that he fully supports the establishment of a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria. 

As Prime Minister in previous governments, Benjamin Netanyahu has always had a pro-Judea and Samaria policy and has made a lot of positive changes for the region. With the even more pro-Judea and Samaria Religious Zionism party being the second largest party in the proposed coalition, they will be a huge voice of influence in this next government. God willing, we will see some positive changes in regard to Israel’s government policy towards the Biblical Heartland of Israel. 

In Genesis 12, God gave Abraham and his descendants the land of Israel for an everlasting covenant. So no matter what happens with Israel’s politics or no matter what kind of negative pressure Israel receives from the international community regarding Judea and Samaria, remember, the land of Israel, all of it, belongs to the Jewish people. When dealing with policy regarding Judea and Samaria, as Christians, this should be the basis of our worldview.