wins the most seats (25 by current polls), would they then form a coalition with Yesh Atid, Kulanu, Meretz? That would still leave them 10 seats short.

Would they have Shas and United Torah join them (this is unlikely IMHO as they probably would refuse to join a coalition that is led by a woman) or the United list?

Sadly, even with only 21 seats, it might still be easier for Likud to form a coalition.

I think the next electoral reform Israel needs to implement, is the 'bonus' seats system that countries like Greece have. That the party that wins the most seats, gets bonus 'at large' seats, thereby making it easier to form coalitions.

weigh up how many seats they needs etc.

I have not read anything that suggests they want a change to be more
in line with something like Greece has, have you?

nice to see you, btw,

so if a party gets 3.25% of the vote they get 4 seats (120 * .0325 =3.9 round up to 4).

3.25% is the minimum needed to get in to Knesset.

The part that I am unsure of is how the 'extra' seats are given out. since obviously there are parties that don't get the minimum 3.25%, the total % of the vote for the parties that make the threshold will be under 100%.

I have not read anything about wanting to be more in line with Greece either, it was just a suggestion that rattled around in my brain and fell out on this early, rainy AM.

Nice to see you as well.

Edit
PS no party has ever won more than 56 seats in the Israel Knesset, meaning they always have to form a coalition.

Won't be long before they vote..will be all the buzz here when we learn the results.

and what time will results start being announced?

The tweets. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Election-Live-Blog-Follow-the-latest-updates-394059

Lahav Harkov @LahavHarkov

Knesset Channel: ZU 27 Likud 26 TJL 13 YA 12 Kulanu 10 Bennett 9 Shas 7 UTJ 6 Meretz 5 YB 5

ZU 27+ TJL 13 + YA 12 + Kulanu 10 +Meretz 5 = 67. But polls also show Likud with either 27 or 28 mandates. If they are tied at 27, who gets first crack at forming a coalition?

Likud 27 + YA 12 + Kulanu 10 + Bennett 9 + shas 7 +UTJ 6+YB 5 =76.

Herzog needs to convince kulanu, YA to go with them and not Likud. Both are opposed to Bibi's economic path, so hopefully that will convince them to go with Herzog.

That way the religious parties can be frozen out as well.

making process take after the results are confirmed? Do they have a strict
time line to follow..with a specific date after the election?

once a party leader is directed by the president of Israel to form a coalition, he/she has 45 days to cobble together a coalition, have it approved in Knesset, and shown to the president for his/her rubber stamp.

One of the few powers that the president of Israel has, is to decide who will be given the first shot to form a coalition in the event of a dead heat for most seats.

It would make a statement, and it keeps Bibi out of the government.

but it would depend on the other parties in the coalition if they are willing to form a coalition with the United List.

really does not like Bibi, nor does Yair Lapid. I think that will benefit Herzog in his battle to be the one to form a coalition.

Netanyahu claiming victory. Not sure if that is accurate or just his usual huff and puff.

but that does not mean he actually has. The polls are showing a dead heat.

we'll see what happens

Gal-on congratulates Herzog on mandates, warns him from joining government with Neyanyahu.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/An-enthusiastic-Meretz-celebrates-passing-electoral-threshold-394242

Despite lackluster performance, Yisrael Beytenu meets voting threshold with 5 seats
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Despite-lackluster-performance-Yisrael-Beytenu-meets-voting-threshold-with-5-seats-394238

Shas source: both Bibi and Buji called Deri less than 30 minutes after exit polls offering to start coalition negotiations; Deri postponed till Wednesday.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Yahad-fails-to-cross-threshold-in-exit-polls-Deri-keeps-Shas-head-above-water-394240

2:07 a.m. The returns on voting from ballot boxes indicate that the Likud has significantly extended its lead over Zionist Union.

According to Israel Radio, officials have counted the votes of 25 percent of booths across the country. The results indicate that the Likud wins 32 Knesset seats while Zionist Union garners 25 seats.

Yesh Atid is the third-largest party with 11 seats, Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu faction wins 10 seats, the Arab List nosedives to nine seats, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas movement wins eight seats, Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi dips further to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu, which has only mustered five seats, climbs to seven.

United Torah Judaism wins six seats while Meretz rounds out the list with five seats.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Election-Live-Blog-Follow-the-latest-updates-394059


only 25% of the vote is in though.

if Yesh Atid and kulanu refuse to form a coalition with Bibi, the best he can do at the moment is 60 votes with the religious parties and hte far right ones.

If Zionist union is willing to bring in either Shas or United Torah they can get more than 60 (but would need the united list along with Yesh Atid and Kulanu, and that might be a very difficult coalition to pull off.

I don't think Israeli law allows for a minority government. So if neither Likud or zionist union can cobble together a coalition (each would be given a separate 45 day period one after another) new elections would be called.

I think we need to hold out hope that Yesh Atid and Kulanu refuse to join a bibi led coalition. Which I think is possible considering that Moshe Kahlon and Lapid have no love lost for Bibi.

intrigue me, but there are some major flaws to them. You can have a pure proportional system like Israel, which causes a lot of splintering, small parties holding the balance of power, etc. Or you have first past the post, where you may not have a majority of votes, but you get the majority of seats in parliament. This often happens in the UK, Germany, France (although france is a presidential/parliamentary system, where the president has a lot of power and is elected separately from parliament.)

With the exception of the last election in the UK, politics were dominated by two parties (Conservative and Labor for decades, before that Liberal and Conservative, Whig and Conservative, etc)

Likudniks - out of the cold....

Yesh Atid and Koolanu join forces with Zionist Union.

It'll be called Anyone but Bibi coalition

And as a surprise member - the Joint List of Arab Parties - to show that the new "unity" government - would that work? They all share some of the same common goals?

I don't know..I could be wrong...

4:58 a.m. With nearly 95 percent of precincts reporting before dawn on Wednesday, the Likud has emerged as the clear, undisputed victor in the elections.

According to the official up-to-the-minute tally, Likud wins 29 seats while Zionist Union comes in second at 24 seats.

The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (14); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (7); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).


29+8+7+7+6 =57

24+11+10+7+7+4=63 or 24+14+11+10+4=63.

Two workable coalitions for Herzog.

Bibi needs either Kahlon or Lapid to join his coalition to form a government. if both refuse to join, he will not be able to get a majority (unless for some strange reason Meretz joins him which would be hard to fathom.)

It puts together all of the center-left and the Arab parties without any religious parties.

Thanks for the update.

Herzog would be given a shot at forming a coalition. If he were to fail as well, then new elections would be called.