Netanyahu will be opposition leader

Rather than sit in relative obscurity as the Knesset’s fifth largest party, Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud is now the third largest party after Thursday’s final vote tally resulted in a small but significant shake up in the allocation of seats in the 17th Knesset.

The 17th Knesset will now look like this following the count of the final 150,000 ballots from on-duty IDF soldiers, prisoners, Israelis abroad, etc:

1. Kadima - 29 seats (+1)
2. Labor - 20 seats
3. Likud - 12 seats (+1)
4. Shas - 12 seats (-1)
5. Israel Beiteinu - 11 seats (-1)
6. National Union/National Religious - 9 seats
7. Pensioner’s Party - 7 seats
8. United Torah Judaism - 6 seats
9. Meretz - 5 seats (+1)
10. Ra’am-Ta’al - 3 seats (-1)
11. Balad - 3 seats
12. Hadash - 3 seats

So all of you who were praying for “Bibi”, keep doing so!

This seemingly minor alteration means that he will most likely now serve as official opposition leader, rather than the head of a largely insignificant faction.

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