These results are a crushing disappointment for supporters of Eisenkot.
His coalition was supposed to win the most seats by a comfortable margin.
Now we are potentially facing a deadlock, because the other 19 seats were all won by Arab parties…
There is no way that Netanyahu would ever form a government with the Arab parties.
If Eisenkot broke his word and tried to do so, two of his most important allies would immediately bolt and his coalition would crumble.
So it appears that we will either see a unity government or there will be another election.
There are thousands of votes that still need to be counted, but they are not expected to significantly alter the results…
In its update just after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the CEC said 85.6% of total votes had been counted, representing the results from 92.9% of ballot boxes.
While the results were not final, they weren’t expected to change dramatically, and it was expected that the figures, which had been updated regularly since early Wednesday morning, would not be updated again until Thursday.
Needless to say, this is considered to be a victory for Netanyahu.
It is likely that he will either continue to serve as prime minister in a unity government or as a “caretaker prime minister” until a new election can be held.
The voter turnout percentage for this election was 77.7 percent according to the country’s Central Elections Committee.
That is the highest level of voter turnout since 1999.
Israeli voters flocked to the polls in huge numbers because they realized that so much was at stake.
The U.S. and Israel have both been making extensive preparations for a new campaign of airstrikes in Iran, and it appears that the war in the Middle East is about to go to an entirely new level.
During the campaign, Netanyahu repeatedly stated that regime change in Iran is his goal, while Eisenkot assured voters that he would not seek to topple the Iranian regime…
Netanyahu has long pushed to topple mullahs in the Islamic Republic. Eisenkot agrees that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, but has said regime change is unrealistic.
“Eisenkot has stated that he would not seek to bring about the fall of the regime in Iran,” said Yossi Mansharof, an expert on Iran for The Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.
That was one of the starkest differences between the two candidates.
If Eisenkot had been victorious, he would have sought to make some sort of a bargain with Iran…
Observers believe that if Eisenkot takes power — which would likely require an alliance with Arab parties — he could push to make a deal that would enrich Iran in exchange of nuclear concessions.
“Netanyahu would not agree to such an arrangement, understanding that a nuclear deal would prolong the regime’s lifespan,” Mansharof said.
Netanyahu carried that theme into his post-election address early Wednesday, telling supporters that Israel and the United States now had a historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eliminate the Iranian threat.
“Iran is weaker than ever, Israel is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu said, portraying the moment as an opportunity to finish the confrontation alongside Trump.
Of course the Iranians will do whatever they feel is necessary to survive.
So the stage has been set for an apocalyptic showdown.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal was reporting that the U.S. has informed our allies in the Gulf that “a short, intense military campaign” is coming following the midterm elections…
The U.S. has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the U.S. midterm elections, people briefed on the conversations said.
The communications through diplomatic and military channels are among a growing number of indications that the U.S. and Israel are readying to launch a new round of heavy combat operations against Iran, risking a major escalation in hopes of degrading Tehran’s strength and pushing it toward negotiations.
The midterm elections in the United States are in less than a week.
So the clock is ticking.
Apparently officials from Qatar presented one last peace proposal from the Trump administration to the Iranians, but the Iranians were not impressed with it at all…
The Iranians are never going to agree to the nuclear concessions that the Trump administration is seeking.
They can present the same proposals to the Iranians 100 different times, and 100 different times they will fail.
There isn’t going to be peace.
Netanyahu is absolutely determined to end the regime in Iran, and Iran is absolutely determined to wipe Israel from the map.
Iran is pledging to strike very sensitive targets in Israel and all over the Middle East.
If the Iranians push things too far, they could reach a point no return, and then we will have all-out war on our hands.
