Israel vote deadlock confirmed by results

JERUSALEM: Israeli vote results on Friday confirmed a deadlock in the country’s general election and put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party as the second-largest, leaving him with a tough battle to extend his long tenure in office. The near-complete official results from Tuesday’s election gave ex-military chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance the most seats, with 33 out of parliament’s 120. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud won 31 seats, but neither had an obvious path to a majority coalition. In a stark admission on Thursday, Netanyahu acknowledged he was unable to form a right-wing coalition as he hoped and called on Gantz to join him in a unity government instead. Gantz responded by saying he would have to be prime minister in a unity government since Blue and White was the largest party.