Updated Election Tally Pushes Ra’am Into Knesset, Remaking Blocs

An updated vote tally released Wednesday morning put the Islamist Ra’am party above the electoral threshold, dramatically altering the breakdown of the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs and transforming chairman Mansour Abbas into a possible kingmaker.

With 87 percent of the vote tallied, the Arab Israeli party managed to rack up over 150,000 votes and is now predicted to receive five seats in the next Knesset, according to figures released by the Central Elections Committee.

Ra’am’s new standing comes at the expense of Likud, Yesh Atid, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Meretz, which each dropped one seat from the number predicted earlier in the count. With three of those parties inside the pro-Netanyahu bloc, Ra’am’s gain pushed the parties supporting the prime minister under the crucial 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

Read more at Times of Israel.

{Matzav.com}