With 99% of the vote counted in the Israeli elections, Kadima still clings to a 1 Knesset seat lead over the Likud and the Right/Religious bloc has an even larger majority of 65 seats:
| Bloc | Current Knesset | Real Results | Exit Polls |
| Arab Parties | 10 | 11 | 9 |
| Left | 60 | 44 | 46-48 |
| Right | 27 | 46 | 45 |
| Religious | 23 | 19 | 18-20 |
As we wrote last night, there has been a
major shift to the Right. The Left dropped 16 seats versus their position in the current Knesset while the Right picked up 19 seats and the Religious parties dropped by 4 seats. And the
uncounted votes by soldiers and diplomats abroad may increase the tilt even further:
The votes of the armed forces usually tilt to the nationalist and religious parties, and are likely to create at least a tie and may even put Likud in the lead. The votes of diplomats overseas and soldiers changed the results in the last election by taking one Knesset seat away from Kadima. The number of Arab MKs also will likely be reduced after the soldiers' ballots are counted.
The Left, particularly Labor, were the big losers in the vote while Likud more than doubled their seats from the current Knesset. Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu was also a big election winner.
No Arab party has ever sat in a coalition, and when one subtracts the 11 Arab seats from the Left/Arab bloc one is left with 65 seats for the Right/Religious bloc versus 44 for the Left. Therefore it seems natural that Netanyahu and the Likud should be chosen to head the next government even if the Likud remains slightly smaller than Kadima.
