Israel election leaves parliament without a majority

Israel’s election has left the Knesset without a governing majority, as opposition leaders backed Gadi Eisenkot to try to form the next government and Benjamin Netanyahu called for a broad coalition under his leadership. The seat distribution in the 120-member parliament is 53 for Netanyahu’s bloc, 48 for Eisenkot’s bloc and 19 for Arab-majority lists. A government needs 61 seats for a majority, leaving neither of the two main blocs able to govern alone. Netanyahu said Likud and he had a mandate to lead, citing Likud’s position as the largest party, with 27 seats. He called for a broad national government and ruled out relying on Arab-majority parties, which he accused of supporting terrorism and denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. Those claims were Netanyahu’s characterization. Opposition party leaders have backed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, as their candidate to form a government. Their positions differ on whether to seek support from Arab-majority lists: Yair Golan of the Democrats has advocated cooperation, while Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman opposes it. Eisenkot’s party has appeared reluctant to pursue such an arrangement. Netanyahu’s...