Al Jazeera cited an analysis by Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Program, stating that neither Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's camp nor opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot secured the majority seats needed to form a government. Both sides have also ruled out cooperation with the two main electoral lists representing Israel's Palestinian citizens. Mekelberg believes Netanyahu could still retain power by persuading Eisenkot and others to form a coalition, while simultaneously discrediting Arab parties to obstruct the formation of an alternative government.