Binyamin netanyahu took to the stage(走上舞台) in the early hours of October 28th knowing he had almost certainly lost his majority. And yet Mr Netanyahu and his Likud(以色列主要右翼政党利库德集团) party supporters were jubilant(欢欣鼓舞的). Likud lost some seats but it is still Israel’s largest party. The coalition was punished by the voters for what most Israelis perceive as the failures by Mr Netanyahu that led to the massacres of October 7th 2023 and for his coalition’s divisive policies. But the beating was not nearly as severe as most pollsters(民调专家) had predicted. More important, Likudniks reckon that even though the opposition has won an outright majority, it is incapable of forming a coalition to replace their own.(更重要的是，利库德人认为，尽管反对派赢得了绝对多数，却无力组建联盟来取代他们。) They are probably right.
10月28日凌晨，本雅明·内塔尼亚胡走上舞台时，心里清楚自己几乎肯定已经失去了多数席位。然而，内塔尼亚胡和利库德集团的支持者们却欢欣鼓舞。利库德虽然丢掉了一些席位，但仍是以色列第一大党。选民惩罚了执政联盟，因为大多数以色列人认为，正是内塔尼亚胡的失误导致了2023年10月7日的屠杀，也因为其联盟的政策制造了分裂。但这次打击远没有多数民调专家预测的那么严重。更重要的是，利库德人认为，尽管反对派赢得了绝对多数，却无力组建替代他们的联盟。他们大概是对的。
With over 90% of the vote counted Mr Netanyahu’s coalition had won 53 of the 120 seats in the Knesset(以色列议会), Israel’s parliament. The final result, still being tallied(统计；计票) as The Economist went to press(付印), is not expected to change much: the prime minister will not have the seats to form a new government. Israel’s opposition is divided into two blocs(阵营；集团). The main one, consisting of four mostly Jewish parties, is expected to win 48 seats. The second, made up of predominantly Arab parties, is on track to win 19 seats, the most Israel’s Arab minority has ever won.(第二大阵营主要由阿拉伯政党组成，有望赢得19席，这是以色列阿拉伯少数族裔有史以来赢得的最多席位。) Together, the two blocs could command a clear majority.
在已统计超过90%选票的情况下，内塔尼亚胡的联盟在以色列议会120个席位中赢得53席。最终结果在《经济学人》付印时仍在统计中，预计不会有太大变化：总理将没有足够席位组建新政府。以色列反对派分为两大阵营。主要阵营由四个以犹太政党为主的政党组成，预计将赢得48席。第二大阵营主要由阿拉伯政党组成，有望赢得19席，这是以色列阿拉伯少数族裔有史以来赢得的最多席位。两阵营合计可掌握明显多数。
But of the four Jewish opposition parties, only one, the left-leaning(左倾的) Democrats, has explicitly said it would go into government with the Arab parties. Two larger opposition outfits(团体；组织) are much more reluctant. Yashar, led by a former Israel Defence Forces(以色列国防军) chief, Gadi Eisenkot, and Yachad (Together), led by two former prime ministers, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, have been evasive(闪烁其词的；回避的). Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu(以色列我们的家园党), a nationalist opposition party, has categorically(断然地；明确地) ruled out(排除；拒绝考虑) relying even informally on the Arab parties.
但在四个犹太反对党中，只有一个——左倾的民主党——明确表示愿意与阿拉伯政党联合执政。两个较大的反对党则犹豫得多。由前以色列国防军总参谋长加迪·艾森科特领导的“亚沙尔”，以及由两位前总理纳夫塔利·贝内特和亚伊尔·拉皮德领导的“亚哈德”（意为“在一起”），一直闪烁其词。民族主义反对党“以色列我们的家园”领导人阿维格多·利伯曼则断然排除哪怕非正式地依赖阿拉伯政党的可能。