Israelis await final election results as Netanyahu rivals weigh joining forces with Arab parties

As no clear winner emerged and weeks of negotiating could lie ahead for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an array of opposition parties trying to unseat him, JERUSALEM (AP) – Anxious Israelis watched election results near completion Wednesday.

Key points

• AP AUDIO: Israelis await final election results as Netanyahu rivals weigh joining forces with Arab parties.
• In an AP interview, Israeli citizen Artsi Wine notes he predicted the general election would produce no clear winner and that weeks of negotiations could lie ahead.
• Problems around the Palestinians and their descendants remain incredibly sensitive in Israel.
• On Wednesday, Netanyahu cautioned against a "dangerous government" that might include them.
• Netanyahu seeks to remain the country's longest-serving prime minister.

Arab-led parties created a historic showing, but it's not clear if the other opponents of Netanyahu's far-right administration would form a coalition with them for a majority of seats in parliament. Problems around the Palestinians and their descendants remain incredibly sensitive in Israel.

Netanyahu seeks to remain the country's longest-serving prime minister. In defiant comments after the vote – which indicated his Likud party losing ground since the 2022 election – he dismissed the idea of partnering with Arab parties as treasonous.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu cautioned against a "dangerous government" that might include them. He won't work with the Arab-led parties, whose constituents create up 20% of Israel's population, and they have additionally ruled out any partnership with him.

In short, israelis await final election results as Netanyahu rivals weigh joining forces with is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.