The bloc opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering Yair Lapid, chairman of Yesh Atid, as its pick for Knesset speaker, KAN News reported on Wednesday evening. The appointment would take place in two weeks, but only if the bloc succeeds in forming a coalition.
Lapid is one of the bloc's leaders. He holds the second spot on the B'Yachad list, which is headed by Naftali Bennett, and he is not running for prime minister.
The opposition camp consists of Yashar, B'Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu and the Democrats. According to Central Elections Committee data, the four parties are expected to enter the Knesset with a combined 48 seats.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli media reported that the bloc was discussing a replacement for the current speaker. N12 said bloc leaders hope to settle on a candidate and make the change as early as the Knesset swearing-in ceremony. Earlier reports on the bloc's thinking did not point to any consensus on who the next speaker would be.
Several days before the election, bloc leaders were reportedly already working toward a broad agreement to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and to do so before a coalition deal was reached.
The Central Elections Committee announced on Wednesday morning, after almost five million votes had been counted, that Netanyahu's bloc is expected to win 53 seats. Likud is projected to take 26. United Torah Judaism, Shas and Otzma Yehudit are each expected to win seven, while the Religious Zionist Party is expected to win six.
Within the opposition bloc, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar is projected to win 21 seats. B'Yachad, led by Bennett and Lapid, is expected to take 12. Yair Golan's Democrats are projected at eight seats, and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu at seven.
The latest committee figures also give the Arab parties 19 seats in the next Knesset, with the Joint List at 12 and Ra'am at seven.
