Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has suggested that negotiations to form a new government are already underway behind closed doors, declaring that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no viable path to securing power.

Lapid, a former prime minister and leader of the Together Party, which is part of the opposition Change Bloc, made the remarks in a post on his verified X account on Friday.

He said government formation was fundamentally different from an election campaign, describing it as a gradual process conducted in small rooms and away from television cameras.

“I know people do not like uncertainty at all. If you want to know whether anything is happening behind the silence we are seeing now, the answer is yes,” Lapid wrote.

Although preliminary election results show that no political bloc has secured the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority, Lapid declared the Change Bloc the winner.

Explaining his assessment, he said Netanyahu’s coalition had secured 53 seats, describing the result as a major setback. Of those seats, 13 belong to ultra-Orthodox parties that Lapid characterises as anti-Zionist—United Torah Judaism, which won seven seats, and Shas, which secured six.

According to Lapid’s calculation, Netanyahu’s remaining political base stands at just 40 seats, leaving him without a viable route to forming a government.

“By this calculation, we have won. It was not a knockout victory; it was a victory on points. But points count, too. Besides, a win is a win,” Lapid wrote.

Collectively, parties opposed to Netanyahu have secured 67 seats, exceeding the 61-seat threshold needed to form a government. However, 19 of those seats belong to Arab political parties: Ra’am, with eight seats, and the Joint List, with 11.

The four parties within the Change Bloc have secured a combined 48 seats.

Forming an alternative government remains complicated because several Change Bloc parties—including Lapid’s Together Party, Yashar and Yisrael Beiteinu—have ruled out bringing Arab parties into a governing coalition. The left-wing Democrats party has shown greater willingness to consider such an arrangement.

As a result, despite the anti-Netanyahu camp holding a combined parliamentary majority, securing the necessary political agreements to establish a government remains difficult.

Lapid said the opposition alliance, under the leadership of Yashar Party chief Gadi Eisenkot, would make every possible effort to form a government.

However, he acknowledged that the task would be difficult and that success was far from guaranteed. He urged Israelis to remain patient while the political negotiations continue.