Israeli Leaders Claim Victory Using Competing Math

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a decisive win for his right-wing bloc on Tuesday night, citing a specific segment of the electorate that supports Israel as a Jewish state. In his speech, he stated that Likud remained the largest party and that his coalition held a clear majority among the Zionist public. This calculation includes his haredi and far-right partners, such as Shas and United Torah Judaism, while excluding Arab parties. Netanyahu argued that because the haredi parties support the Jewish character of the state, their votes count toward his claimed majority, even though they resist mandatory conscription.

Naftali Bennett offered a contrasting definition of victory, focusing on military service rather than religious character. He declared that the alliance of those who serve had defeated the alliance of draft evaders. Bennett pledged to form a Zionist government based on this principle of shared burden. In this framework, the haredi parties fall on the losing side because they do not serve in the military, unlike the Jewish parties in the change bloc who support conscription.

Gadi Eisenkot aligned with Bennett’s reading of the results. He stated that Netanyahu faced a larger and stronger Zionist majority and promised to build a government committed to equal conscription. Eisenkot cast the outcome as a victory for voters demanding that the burden of defense be shared more equally across the population.

Avigdor Liberman took a different approach, appealing to historical Zionist figures rather than a specific demographic. He urged supporters of Trumpeldor, Jabotinsky, and Herzl to raise a banner of revolt within Likud. Liberman sought to separate voters' loyalty to the Zionist path from their loyalty to the prime minister, arguing that Netanyahu had betrayed that tradition.

Yair Golan adopted the broadest view of the electorate, invoking the Israeli democratic majority. By Wednesday morning, he detailed the arithmetic that includes Arab parties alongside the Jewish opposition. Golan argued that Arab votes carry the same weight as Jewish votes and that if the parties opposing the outgoing coalition hold a parliamentary majority, that is the valid result. He pushed back against the framing of his prospective partners by emphasizing equal citizenship, stating that Arab voters need not pass extra tests for their votes to count.

The election left no bloc with a clear majority of 61 seats in parliament. The leaders emerged claiming victory among different electorates, with the open question being how these competing definitions can be turned into a working government.