The Israeli Flags (creative commons)

From The Washington Post:  

“[The elections] raised the prospect of a more centrist government that could ease strained relations with Washington and signal more flexibility in peace efforts with the Palestinians… but the shift left Netanyahu facing a potentially difficult balancing act, trying to fashion a coalition that will also accommodate the rising hawkish wing of his Likud party and other rightist and religious parties that will remain influential in parliament.”

READ MORE: Israel's Election Candidates Resume Campaigning

While the showing in votes have been weaker than expected for Netanyahu, the result may limit his room for maneuver against Iran. Nethanyahu originally entered as the public favorite candidate with no obvious challenger, but a new face came to meet him in the polls, “newly invigorated.” 

Yair Lapid, having moved away from his short lived centrist party, has moved on to a new party that focuses on the middle class and is helping to promote the army and work forces. 

READ MORE: Netanyahu Teams With Lieberman Ahead Of Israeli Elections 

Netanyahu’s decisions will impact Israel in the upcoming term. Lapid is willing to work alongside him, which would bring together two very different parties which may or may not stunt any future growth. 

From the New York Times:

“With three-quarters of the votes counted by 3 a.m. Wednesday, Israel Radio reported that Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud-Beiteinu ticket was poised to take 31 of Parliament’s 120 seats, with Mr. Lapid’s party, There Is a Future, coming in second with 19, far more than polls had predicted. The right wing and religious parties that make up Mr. Netanyahu’s current coalition garnered a thin majority of perhaps 62 seats, pushing him to try to join with Mr. Lapid instead and possibly embrace other center and left-leaning groups. Labor took 15 seats in early returns and Jewish Home, a new religious-nationalist party, 11.”

The following weeks will likely focus on domestic issues, such as balancing the budget deficit, ensuring housing for citizens, and dealing with general complaints.

Read more on Netanyahu here.

Reach Executive Producer Eric Parra here.