An Israeli election is never over until a new government is formed and sworn in.
The next step is for President Rivlin to meet with the different political parties and then decide which political party gets the first crack at forming a government. Typically it will be the leader of the political party winning the most seats in the Knesset (Parliament). So, based on the numbers we've seen so far, the Blue & White Party may have one or two more seats than Likud (Bibi's party)
There is a time limit (I believe six weeks, but don't quote me :) ) to form a government. To form a new government a 61 seat majority bloc (out of 120 Knesset seats) is needed. If 61 seats can't be reached, then the President selects someone else to form the government. Sometimes it's someone from a different political party, sometimes it's someone else from the same party that failed in the first attempt.
When Bibi couldn't form a government after the April election, it was expected that Rivlin would give the opportunity to someone else. Bibi took the unprecedented step of dissolving the government and calling for new elections rather than relinquish the right to form a government and lose the premiership.
And here we are today. Very similar outcome with it looking like the Blue and White Party may command a slim seat lead in the Knesset.
No one is even attempting to predict what President Rivlin will decide.
Meanwhile both Blue and White members (under Gantz) and Likud members (under Netanyahu) are moving forward trying to secure alliances with smaller political parties to use to convince Rivlin that he is the one who can form the government.
Israel is really just at the beginning of step two in deciding the outcome of this election.
Thank you for that explanation. I still don’t understand the workings of the Israeli elections....but that’s just my feeble brain.
Thanks again.