Netanyahu's Likud leads Israel's vote count, but no bloc reaches 61 seats

The vote and the seat count

Israelis voted on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, and by Thursday morning the official count had reached 91% of the votes. Likud remains the largest party with a projected 26 seats. The bloc of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties backing Benjamin Netanyahu is projected at 53 seats, while the centrist bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is projected at 48, according to the Central Elections Committee projection announced on the evening of Wednesday, 28 October. Neither bloc reaches the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset without the Arab parties.

Arab parties together won 19 seats, a number described as a record, and Arab citizens make up about 20% of the population. The Joint List, an alliance of three Arab parties led by Hadash, took 12 seats and ties for third place with Yachad (Together), the party of former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Israeli media reports suggest the Arab parties have become the kingmakers of the new parliament, although analysts disagree on whether their support can be translated into a coalition.

Netanyahu bloc53

Eisenkot bloc48

Arab parties19

Netanyahu bloc

53 seats

Eisenkot bloc

48 seats

Arab parties

19 seats

Data from the article text

Double-envelope ballots and the count

The count of double-envelope ballots is still under way. These ballots allow soldiers, hospital patients, prisoners, displaced citizens and some election workers to vote outside their own polling stations. The count now shows about 480,000 such ballots, not the 650,000 the electoral commission had announced earlier. They include votes from soldiers and reservists at the fronts in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, as well as diplomats, police officers and prison staff. Sources estimate these votes correspond to about 12 to 13 seats, which makes the final tally decisive for the shape of the parliament.

Fraud claims and the police response

Before the vote, Israeli media reported that Likud planned to challenge results from Arab areas and to claim the election had been stolen if Netanyahu did not win. On 28 October, Netanyahu accused the Arab parties of stealing the election. A police source said the election day passed with very few irregularities affecting the integrity of the vote, even compared with earlier elections, and that no evidence from investigations or intelligence supports the claims. A Central Elections Committee official had also rejected the fraud claims the previous day. Noam Solberg, the committee chair and a Supreme Court justice, instructed Shin Bet chief David Zini to examine suspicions of foreign funding and possible election bribery by foreign entities. Solberg said he could not confirm the suspicions and asked to receive findings within one week. According to Israeli Channel 12, the inquiry is based on information given to Shin Bet, and the channels used to move the money resemble those used in the past to finance terrorism. No further details about the organisations or the origin of the funds have been published. Israeli media reports say Likud suspects Qatar and Turkey, but those suspicions have not been confirmed.

Paths to a government

President Isaac Herzog will assign the mandate to form a government, and the first candidate to receive it has about 28 days before passing it on. Herzog has urged party leaders to approach the coming days with an open mind and to exhaust every option to avoid new elections. Netanyahu, who faces corruption charges, remains caretaker prime minister for now and has ruled out cooperation with the Arab parties. Eisenkot has also excluded them for the time being. The options under discussion are a national unity government under Netanyahu, which would require some members of Eisenkot's bloc to break their pledges, or a new election within months. Analysts also note that the mandate does not have to go to the candidate with the most seats. Shares on the Tel Aviv stock exchange fell, with investors looking for a government able to make decisions on public spending and growth.