Netanyahu, Eisenkot left jostling for power after Israel's election

The vote counting is all but over in Israel, but no clear winner has emerged. Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats in the Knesset. His main opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, has 48. Both are short of the 61-seat majority needed to form government. Arab-led parties have 19 seats, potentially giving them the balance of power. Right now we have 99.7% of the vote officially counted and done. It will either be another Netanyahu-led coalition government or it will be a change block government backed. by Palestinian parties. They have won 19 seats. That is a jump from the 10 seats they had before the Knesset was dissolved. And party leaders are saying that they are prepared to throw their support behind Gabi Eisenkot to ensure that Netanyahu is defeated. They are not saying that they will join the coalition. They have not at this point been. Asked to join the coalition, but they are saying that they are prepared to make sure that Netanyahu is not able to get in for another term with his right-wing coalition government. We did see a message from Eisenkot posted on social media, a rather short message where he said there is hope, we will do it, we will succeed. He spent the day meeting with a number of leaders that have won a few seats that are prepared to work. with him, Israeli parties that are prepared to work with him. So there's a lot going on in the background right now as they try to shore up support and try to figure out exactly what their numbers are. But the Change Block led by Eisenkot, if you add in those Arab party votes, they are looking at 67 seats, which would give them power. But again, this is all dependent on who can make the deals with which individuals and what parties.