Surplus Vote Agreements Boost Knesset Parties' Mandates
Translated & summarized from Kipa by baba
Surplus vote agreements significantly impacted the distribution of mandates in the 26th Knesset elections, granting an extra seat to five parties including Yisrael Beiteinu, Likud, Together, United Torah Judaism, and Ra'am. After nearly all votes were counted, Likud leads with 27 mandates, followed by Yisrael Beiteinu with 21. Neither major bloc has the 61 seats needed to form a government.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Five parties, including Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud, gained an extra Knesset mandate via surplus vote agreements.
- Gadi Eisenkot's Yisrael Beiteinu secured an additional mandate through a surplus deal with Yair Golan's Democrats.
- Likud leads with 27 mandates, Yisrael Beiteinu has 21, and Together has 12 seats after vote counting.
- No bloc has achieved the 61 mandates required to form a government in the 26th Knesset elections.
- Surplus vote agreements combine votes of two lists above the electoral threshold for mandate distribution.
Surplus vote agreements signed before the 26th Knesset elections proved significant in the distribution of mandates, with five parties benefiting by gaining an additional seat. Gadi Eisenkot's Yisrael Beiteinu party secured an extra mandate through an agreement with Yair Golan's Democrats. Other parties that gained a mandate from these agreements include Likud, Together, United Torah Judaism, and Ra'am.
Likud's surplus agreement was with the Religious Zionism and Identity parties. Naftali Bennett's Together party signed with Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu. United Torah Judaism had an agreement with Shas, and Ra'am with the Joint List. Surplus agreements allow two lists that have passed the electoral threshold to combine their votes for the remaining mandate distribution, according to the Bader-Ofer method. In this election, each of the five agreements resulted in one additional mandate for a signatory party.
Following the counting of approximately 99.5% of the votes, Likud leads with 27 mandates, Eisenkot's Yisrael Beiteinu has 21, and Together has 12. The Joint List secured 11 mandates, the Democrats and Ra'am each received 8, Yisrael Beiteinu, Otzma Yehudit, and United Torah Judaism each got 7, and Shas, Religious Zionism, and Identity each received 6.
The bloc picture remains unchanged, with the current coalition bloc holding 53 mandates, the change bloc holding 48, and Arab parties holding 19. This outcome means neither of the two main blocs possesses the 61-mandate majority required to form a government.
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