This is the hard lesson from Israel’s election: to stop national populists, you can’t play by gentlemen’s rules | Jonathan Freedland

What Happened

In this week's Israeli election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority, falling from 68 to 53 Knesset seats, according to the article. The anti-Netanyahu parties won 67 seats, but cannot form a government without Arab-led parties, which achieved a record 19 seats after Palestinian voter turnout reached 80%. Netanyahu and his allies claimed Qatar paid Palestinian-Israeli citizens to vote, alleging the result is void; the article does not provide evidence for this claim. Most Jewish-led opposition parties, except Yair Golan's Democrats, pledged not to form a coalition with Arab-led parties beyond Ra'am, leaving the government formation deadlocked. The opposition's lead challenger is former general Gadi Eisenkot, but even with Ra'am's support, the Jewish-led opposition lacks 61 seats without defections from ultra-Orthodox parties.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The election exposes a structural reality: the Jewish Israeli electorate is predominantly right-wing, so the anti-Netanyahu Jewish opposition cannot govern alone. Including Arab-led parties in government would break a long-standing taboo, with implications for Israeli democracy and the status of Palestinian citizens. The outcome also illustrates how nationalist populists delegitimize minority voters, a pattern with relevance beyond Israel.

Watch For

Watch whether the Israeli president initiates coalition consultations and whether Netanyahu or an opposition figure is tasked with forming a government. Monitor whether any ultra-Orthodox parties defect from Netanyahu's bloc to an anti-Netanyahu coalition, whether Ra'am or other Arab-led parties are included, and whether Netanyahu's fraud allegations trigger legal challenges or new elections.