Consequences of the Israeli Election for Israel and Palestine

[Originally published in Democracy & Society on October 7, 2019. Read the full article here.]

On September 17th, Israelis went to the polls for the second time this year, deciding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to form a government after the elections in April was a dealbreaker. Despite Benny Gantz’ centrist Blue and White party receiving a plurality of seats, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister and leader of the Likud party, has received the mandate to form a new government. 

Given that neither bloc has enough seats to form a government on its own, it’s not clear what the 35th Israeli government will look like. If Netanyahu fails, Gantz will get an opportunity, but if he fails, then a third election will be necessary. Here are three plausible possibilities for how this all might shake out.