Final results of Israel polls reveal deadlock

Tel Aviv, March 26 The final results of Israel's parliamentary elections held earlier this week revealed another stalemate, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents both fell short of a majority to form a government.

The Central Elections Committee, which oversees the elections, said in a statement that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its allies won 52 seats in the 120-seat parliament, while opponents of the country's longest serving Prime Minister garnered 57, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Likud won 30 seats, down from 36 in the previous elections.

The centrist party of Yesh Atid, led by former Finance Minister Yair Lapid, won 17 seats, becoming the second-largest party.

On Thursday, Lapid held series of meetings in a bid to form a coalition government.

But in the Israeli system, the government is formed by the candidate who manages to put together a majority coalition of at least 61 seats.

Netanyahu has secured three supporter parties, which won six, seven and nine seats, respectively.

He also hopes to win the support of his former ally, Naftali Bennett, leader of Yamina, a pro-settler party that won seven seats.

Ra'am, an Islamist party, won four seats, becoming the balance of power between a Netanyahu-led coalition or a government led by his opponents.

Ra'am party leader Mansur Abbas said on Wednesday that he doesn't rule out sitting in any coalition.

Before Tuesday's elections, which were the fourth in two years, Netanyahu said he will not rule out a coalition with Ra'am.

Blue and White, a centrist party and Netanyahu's partner in his current power-sharing government, won eight seats.

New Hope, a right-wing party formed recently by former allies of Netanyahu, won six seats.

Next week, President Reuven Rivlin is expected to officially receive the election results.

Then, he will launch a series of consultations with heads of the factions, after which the president will announce who will be tasked with attempting to form the next government.

The elections were held following a series of indecisive results and prolonged political deadlock.

Netanyahu is struggling for his political survival while facing a criminal trial over corruption charges in three separate cases.

( With inputs from IANS )