Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the Blue and White party, led by Benny Gantz, are tied at 32 seats each, a count of more than 85% of votes in the Israeli elections shows.
The latest: The center left and the right wing block were also close to a tie with 55-56 seats each on Wednesday morning. The Israel Beitenu party, led by former Defense Minister Avidor Lieberman, looks set to win about 10 seats.
Why it matters: The latest vote count shows Netanyahu has failed to get the right-wing block to a 61-seat majority — which would have allowed him to get immunity from his upcoming indictment and pass laws that would weaken the Supreme Court and allow the Knesset to overrule court decisions.
- On the other hand, Gantz didn’t win either and can’t form a center-left coalition.
The big picture: The results so far suggest that Avigdor Lieberman is going to be the kingmaker after the election.
- Lieberman has already announced he wanted to form a secular liberal unity government with Gantz and Netanyahu.
Yes, but: Forming a unity government would be very hard because of Netanyahu’s legal situation and his upcoming hearing on Oct. 3.
- Gantz committed during the campaign not to join a unity government led by Netanayhu due to his corruption indictments.
- Netanyahu refuses to join a unity government led by Gantz.
The bottom line: If both Gantz and Netanyahu stick to their positions, Israel would be thrown into an even deeper political crisis — and potentially another election for the third time in a year.
Go deeper: Read Axios' Israel election preview
