Netanyahu Fails to Secure Majority... Will There Be a Regime Change?

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In Israel's general election held yesterday (October 27), the ruling party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly likely to fall short of securing a majority. The Netanyahu administration, which has been in power for over 18 years, faces the risk of collapsing.

Reporter Kim Young-a has the details.

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With over 76% of the votes counted as of around 11:00 a.m. local time on October 28, Israel's Central Election Commission announced that the ruling right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to win a maximum of 54 seats out of the total 120.

Falling short of the 61-seat majority, the possibility of the government collapsing has grown.

The anti-Netanyahu opposition alliance led by former Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot is projected to secure 47 seats, and if it allies with two Arab parties expected to win up to 19 seats, it will exceed the majority threshold.

Eizenkot stated that he would form a new government as quickly as possible and urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to leave politics.

[Gadi Eizenkot / Former Israeli Chief of General Staff : The public has chosen change. The Israeli people have voted against Netanyahu continuing as Israel's prime minister.]

Arab parties holding the casting vote are also showing an active stance toward forming a coalition to oust Netanyahu.

[Ibrahim Hajj / Arab Party Supporter : God willing, we hope to be able to bring down the government of Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir together.]

With his political life in jeopardy, Netanyahu has sought to deter the formation of an opposition coalition by stoking anti-Arab sentiment.

[Benjamin Netanyahu / Prime Minister of Israel : They are trying to form a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties.]

This is because if the formation of a coalition is delayed, Netanyahu could continue to lead the government as a caretaker prime minister.

If they fail to form a coalition within a maximum of 6 weeks, a re-election will be held early next year.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.