Hours before the final results from Israel’s elections were in, several things were clear. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition had lost its mandate, and the opposition had a firm majority.

But most of Israel ’s Jewish opposition ruled out governing with Palestinian-led parties, in the course of a racist election campaign in which Netanyahu painted Palestinian citizens as an enemy inside the state.

The self-imposed ban on a broader opposition alliance , if it holds, offers Netanyahu the prospect of turning his defeat into another term in office – or at least a prolonged mandate as caretaker prime minister and perhaps another round of elections.

This confected barrier to unseating Netanyahu became the focus of Israeli media and analysts. “No Clear Government” announced the newspaper Israel Hayom. “Road to Unity Government Has Been Paved”, read an article on Channel 12.

Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats, attacked that framing. “Netanyahu lost.…