The final Israeli election results are still being counted, but one conclusion is already becoming clear: after years of investigations, relentless negative media coverage and accusations surrounding October 7, the political Left still failed to defeat Benjamin Netanyahu among Jewish Israeli voters.

This was arguably the most favorable election environment Israel’s Left could have imagined.

The campaign transformed the painful issue of the ultra-Orthodox draft into a political weapon intended to divide Israel’s nationalist camp. Frustrated right-wing voters were encouraged to abandon Likud and Israel’s other right-wing parties, or remain home entirely.

Yet despite everything invested in removing Netanyahu, the Israeli Left still lacks a clear path to power without relying upon anti-Zionist Arab parties.

Now comes an extraordinary contradiction.