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Final Israeli Election Results Show No Clear Majority
· Confirmed
In Short: Final election results show neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival Gadi Eisenkot secured a parliamentary majority.
Final election results released by the Central Elections Committee on Thursday showed that neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, secured a parliamentary majority in Israel's 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot's bloc secured 48 seats, with the predominantly Arab parties holding a combined 19 seats.
Netanyahu's Likud party alleged foreign interference and voter bribery, particularly targeting Arab parties, but Eisenkot dismissed these claims as an attempt to delegitimize the election results.
Eisenkot, who was briefed on the investigation, accused Netanyahu of running an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the election results.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry denied the claims of foreign interference.
The high voter turnout and record-breaking early exit polls left neither major political bloc with a clear path to a governing majority.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, tasked with tapping the candidate best positioned to form a coalition, has said a new vote must be avoided at all costs.
Weeks of negotiations to build a majority coalition and name a prime minister likely lie ahead, with another election possible if they fail.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains largely ignored as rivals Netanyahu and Eisenkot vow to end Hamas rule.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš wished Israel good luck in its parliamentary election and hoped the country would continue to be led by a strong leader.
The Central Elections Committee reported the highest turnout since such statistics were first recorded in 1973, with 44.9 percent of voters casting ballots as of 2:00 pm on election day.
What this adds
Final election results confirm that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the Jewish opposition had won a majority in parliament, as reported by the BBC.
Background
Final election results released by the Central Elections Committee on Thursday showed that neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, secured a parliamentary majority.
Neither Netanyahu’s political bloc nor the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot secured a majority, according to the official results, as reported by CBS News.
What's confirmed
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party on Thursday amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, potentially with foreign assistance, as final results showed his bloc had lost its majority in parliament.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s right-wing bloc won 53 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset, or parliament, results released by election officials on Thursday showed, well below the 68 it had controlled at its peak in the previous parliament.
- If the rest of the opposition teams up with Arab parties, a rare and politically risky move, they could potentially form a majority government in parliament, the Knesset.
- The demonstration took place at Hostages Square, three days before Israel’s general election, the first since the war on Gaza began.
- But that is still short of the 61 needed for a majority.
What's still developing
- Eisenkot, who was briefed on the investigation, said "it is too early to determine what happened, or if anything happened at all," and accused Netanyahu of running "an orchestrated and organized campaign to delegitimize the election results". Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, who is part of the Joint List, dismissed the allegation, saying: "The losing side is constructing a racist blood libel and calling on the security agencies to use force in order to overturn the election results."
- Issued on: 27/10/2026 - 09:15 Modified: 29/10/2026 - 07:33 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Arab parties of having stolen the country's election, after a deadlocked result showed they could play a kingmaker role in forming a new government.
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- Netanyahu’s chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, attended the rally that was an echo of the weekly ones once held to call for the release of hostages taken into Gaza.
- LONDON: At a pharmacy in Tira, an Arab city in central Israel, a young cashier urged Amal to vote in the Israeli general election on Tuesday.
- With polls showing that Netanyahu and his governing coalition are slipping in their struggle to retain power in the upcoming October 27 election and lag behind the opposition bloc, an endorsement from the president of the United States is a powerful statement.
- Foreign Policy, 1099 14th St NW, Suite 500 East, Washington, D.C., 20005.
- Israel uses proportional representation to elect 120 members to the Knesset, although no single party since the nation was founded in 1948 has won a 61-seat majority.
- Netanyahu is seeking to retain power against an opposition bloc led by centrist politician and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.