On November 3, Israel’s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the preliminary vote counting results. Accordingly, the right-wing coalition led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the majority of seats in the new National Assembly.

Although the final vote count results will be announced on November 6, the large disparity in the preliminary results allows the right-wing coalition to confidently win. It is expected that Mr. Netanyahu’s faction will win about 64/120 seats in Israel’s 25th Parliament, of which the politician’s Likud party holds 32 seats.

In the opposite direction, Mr. Netanyahu’s opponent, Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid won only 51 seats. The remaining seats belong to a small Arab party. Mr. Lapid congratulated Mr. Netanyahu on his victory and directed his aides to prepare a methodical transition of power.

“The State of Israel is above all political calculations. I wish Mr. Netanyahu success for the sake of the people and state of Israel.”

As such, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu will be tasked by President Isaac Herzog to form a new government next week.

It is expected that Mr. Netanyahu will have 28 days to complete this task. In the immediate future, he needs to allocate important titles to his partner, the Religious Zionist Party with 14 seats in the new National Assembly. The party’s leadership is looking to leverage its advantage to win key cabinet positions, including defense minister and public security minister.