Israel's election leaves no majority, with Netanyahu's bloc ahead but short of 61 seatsIsrael's election leaves no majority, with Netanyahu's bloc ahead but short of 61 seats

Israel voted on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, for all 120 seats in its parliament, the Knesset. With most votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its allies were on track for 53 seats, and the bloc of his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, for 48. Two Arab-led parties were on course for a record 19. A government needs 61 seats, so neither bloc has a majority on its own. Turnout was 77.7%, the highest since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee. Between 430,000 and 480,000 absentee ballots, cast by soldiers, diplomats, hospital patients and others, are still being counted and could move a seat or two.

Netanyahu said his bloc had won a "great majority" and called for "a strong right-wing national government," adding: "It is forbidden, simply forbidden, to endanger Israel by forming a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties." Eisenkot said the public had "spoken in favour of change" and that "the coalition of failure has lost the people's trust," and promised to work with his partners toward "a Zionist government."

On Wednesday, Netanyahu's Likud party said the election had been "stolen" by Arab parties through bribery, threats and fraud, and said it was giving testimonies and evidence to the police, the Shin Bet security service and the Central Elections Committee. Likud has not made that evidence public, and the allegations have not been independently verified, The Jerusalem Post reported. The committee said it had received Likud's submission and was examining it as part of its routine review. Ra'am, one of the Arab parties, had called the election-day arrest of three men suspected of buying votes for it politically motivated, and the mayor of the Bedouin city of Rahat called Likud's claims "lies."

Once the results are final, President Isaac Herzog will consult every party in the new Knesset and ask the candidate he thinks most likely to build a 61-seat majority to try to form a government, a process that can take weeks. If no one succeeds, Israel would hold another election. Herzog said everyone should come to the talks "with an open mind" to avoid that.