World📡 New York TimesBy Leo Sands, Johnatan Reiss and Ephrat LivniOct 29, 2026👁 0 views

No Clear Winner in Israel Election, Final Results Show

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Final Vote Results in Israel Set Up Weeks of Uncertainty About Who Will Govern

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party and its allies won 53 seats in Parliament, falling short of the outright majority needed to form a government. The main opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 48.

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Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party nor Gadi Eiskenkot’s Yashar party won a majority of seats in parliament.
Amir Cohen/Reuters; Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

By Leo SandsJohnatan Reiss and Ephrat Livni

Johnatan Reiss reported from Tel Aviv.

Oct. 29, 2026, 7:07 p.m. ET

The final vote count in Israel’s election, released early Friday local time, confirmed that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition nor the main opposition alliance won enough votes to form a government.

The result sets the stage for weeks of jockeying and political uncertainty.

Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and its hard-right allies won 53 seats in Parliament, not enough to meet the 61-seat threshold for an outright majority. The final count, from Israel’s Central Elections Committee, showed Mr. Netanyahu’s alliance was down from the 64 seats it won in the last election, in 2022.

The main opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who had led in opinion polls for months, won 48. Two Arab parties secured 19 seats, their highest-ever number of seats.

The results are subject to potential “minor corrections” in coming days before they are submitted to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, on Nov. 4, the committee said just after midnight.

Mr. Herzog will decide who he thinks has the best shot at assembling a majority and ask that person to try to form a government. Mr. Herzog has said he will consult with party leaders after formally receiving the vote count next week. The final seat tally will be formalized on Nov. 4, and the political parties will be able to file complaints and legal challenges until Nov. 18.

Mr. Herzog is likely to offer Mr. Eisenkot the first chance to form a government, said Assaf Shapira of the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, a nonpartisan research group. Based on Israeli law, and past elections, the party leader who receives the most recommendations from the other leaders who consult with the president is generally given priority, he said.

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