It’s less an election result than a philosophical puzzle: what happens when a win contains a loss, a loss contains a win and the two collide? That’s the question posed by the confused and confusing outcome of this week’s Israeli election, one that, despite its murky uncertainty, offers clear, sharp lessons – both for that country and for those locked in combat with nationalist populists across the globe.(本周以色列大选那混乱而令人困惑的结果提出的正是这个问题；尽管前景晦暗不明，这场选举却给出了清晰而尖锐的教训——既针对以色列，也针对全球所有与民族主义民粹派缠斗的人。)
与其说这是一次选举结果，不如说是一道哲学谜题：当胜利中藏着失败、失败中又藏着胜利，两者迎头相撞，会发生什么？本周以色列大选那混乱而令人困惑的结果，提出的正是这个问题。尽管前景扑朔迷离，这场选举却给出了清晰而尖锐的教训——既针对以色列本身，也针对全世界所有正与民族主义民粹派缠斗的人。
Start with the result that has simultaneously handed Benjamin Netanyahu a devastating defeat and a strong chance of staying on as prime minister, extending a run that has seen him lead Israel, on and off, for more than 19 of the past 30 years.(先从这样一个结果说起：它同时给了本雅明·内塔尼亚胡一场毁灭性的失败，又给了他继续担任总理的很大机会，从而延长他断断续续执掌以色列的纪录——过去30年里，他有超过19年领导这个国家。) The defeat is clear enough. At a stroke, his parliamentary majority was wiped out. Before Tuesday, the parties that together comprised his ruling coalition controlled 68 of the Knesset(以色列议会)’s 120 seats: that tally(（累计的）数目；记录) has now shrunk to just 53, far short of(远未达到) the 61 seats needed for power. That’s a loss in anybody’s language.
先从这样一个结果说起：它同时给了本雅明·内塔尼亚胡一场毁灭性的失败，又给了他继续担任总理的很大机会，从而延长他断断续续执掌以色列的纪录——过去30年里，他有超过19年领导这个国家。失败是明摆着的。一夜之间，他的议会多数被抹平了。周二之前，共同组成其执政联盟的各党控制着议会120席中的68席；如今这一数字缩水到仅53席，远低于执政所需的61席。无论按哪种说法，这都是一场失败。
And yet, Netanyahu does not look or sound like a man defeated. That’s because he knows that while the parties arrayed(排列；部署（此处指结成的阵营）) against him won many more seats than he did – 67 to his 53 – their chances of forming a government are slim(渺茫的；微小的). If they fail, one or two of them might peel away and enter a so-called national-unity government – under Netanyahu as PM – or there will have to be fresh elections, ones from which, most analysts agree, Netanyahu would emerge stronger.(如果它们组阁失败，其中一两个党可能脱离阵营，加入一个所谓的民族团结政府——由内塔尼亚胡继续担任总理；否则就得重新举行大选，而多数分析人士认为，内塔尼亚胡会从新选举中变得更强。)
然而，内塔尼亚胡看上去、听上去都不像是一个败下阵来的人。因为他知道，尽管与他为敌的各党赢得的席位远多于他——67席对53席——但它们组阁的希望渺茫。如果它们组阁失败，其中一两个党可能脱离阵营，加入一个所谓的民族团结政府——由内塔尼亚胡继续担任总理；否则就得重新举行大选，而多数分析人士认为，内塔尼亚胡会从新选举中变得更强。