Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc stood at 54 projected seats Wednesday afternoon, leaving it seven seats short of the 61 required to form a government. The rival bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot held 49 seats, while the predominantly Arab parties had a combined 17, leaving neither main political camp with a parliamentary majority.
According to the latest Central Elections Committee update, 77.6% of votes had been counted. Netanyahu's Likud remained the largest party with 27 projected seats, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar! with 22. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's Beyachad party stood at 12 seats, followed by the Joint List with 11.
The Democrats were projected to win eight seats, while Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism, Shas and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit held seven each. The Religious Zionism-Zehut alliance and Ra'am were projected to win six seats apiece
The latest update confirmed another shift in the parliamentary balance: Yashar! gained two seats at the expense of the Joint List, raising Eisenkot's bloc from 47 to 49 while reducing the Arab parties' combined representation from 19 to 17. Yisrael Beytenu also lost one seat to Bennett's Beyachad party. Netanyahu's bloc remained unchanged at 54 seats.
The counting of double-envelope ballots, including votes cast by soldiers and other eligible voters outside their assigned polling stations, could still change the distribution of seats.
Political deadlock leaves caretaker government in power
With neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the rival camp securing a parliamentary majority, Israel could remain under a caretaker government as coalition negotiations unfold.
Under Israeli law, a caretaker government retains the same formal powers as a regular government, including the authority to authorize military action. However, it is expected to exercise restraint, particularly when making major decisions with potentially irreversible consequences.
Any decision to go to war must be approved by the government or security cabinet, rather than by the prime minister alone. Operations Guardian of the Walls and Breaking Dawn serve as precedents for military action under caretaker governments.
Despite the restrictions associated with caretaker status and concerns over irreversible decisions, the assessment is that a decision to launch military action, if necessary, would receive unanimous approval.
Arab parties gain ground as leaders signal willingness to oust Netanyahu
The strengthening of the Arab parties has become one of the most significant developments in the vote count. Joint List chairman Prof. Yousef Jabareen said Wednesday that his faction was prepared to use its growing parliamentary strength to help remove Netanyahu's government from power.
"The Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir government has made the lives of every Arab citizen miserable," Jabareen said. "We will know how to leverage our political strength to advance the values we believe in. We will be prepared to pave the way for removing the Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich government and sending them home."
Ra'am's rise from four to six projected seats earlier in the morning was driven partly by the arrival of results from Rahat, a predominantly Bedouin city in southern Israel where the party enjoys strong support. With 31 polling stations counted there, Ra'am received 83.6% of the vote, compared with 14.7% for the Joint List.
In the Bedouin town of Kuseife, Ra'am received 86.6% of votes from five polling stations counted, while the Joint List received 9.9%. In Kafr Qasim, Ra'am led with 74.06%, compared with 22.9% for the Joint List.
Small parties fight to cross the electoral threshold
Beyond the battle between the main blocs, several smaller parties were struggling to secure enough votes to enter the next Knesset.
In an earlier count, when 60.2% of votes had been processed, the Reservists-Economic party led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha was 19,803 votes short of the electoral threshold. Another party, Amcha Israel, led by former military officer Ofer Winter, was 54,888 votes below the threshold, making its chances of entering parliament increasingly remote.
Ra'am, meanwhile, remained at six projected seats, while the Joint List rose to 13, bringing the Arab parties' combined representation to 19. The final distribution of seats could still change as additional results arrive.
Golan calls for government backed by Arab parties
Democrats chairman Yair Golan insisted Wednesday that Netanyahu had lost the election and urged the opposition to form a government with the support of Arab parties.
"Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That's how Israeli democracy works. Period," Golan wrote on X, referring to the parliamentary balance at an earlier stage of the count.
Golan criticized what he described as Netanyahu's attempt to distinguish between Jewish and Arab votes, arguing that the opposition should not exclude Arab citizens from the political process.
"We have a majority, we have a responsibility, and we have an opportunity to establish a government of change in partnership with Israel's Arab citizens," he wrote. "Now we need courage. We need leadership. We need to stop being afraid and start acting."
Golan declined to speak to reporters waiting outside his home in Rosh HaAyin.
Trump seeks to keep Ben-Gvir out of next government, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump is closely monitoring the Israeli election through his aides, according to sources in his circle, who told ynet that the president does not want Netanyahu to include Ben-Gvir, and likely Bezalel Smotrich, in his next government.
According to those sources, Washington views Ben-Gvir's participation as unacceptable, potentially complicating Netanyahu's efforts to preserve his existing right-wing coalition. The development raises the possibility of American pressure to establish a broader unity government, although no such arrangement has been agreed upon.
Trump earlier shared a statement on Truth Social attributed to Irving C. Schwartz that credited the president's endorsement of Netanyahu with reversing the political momentum against him.
The partial results showed Netanyahu's bloc ahead of its main rival, but its tally of 54 seats left it seven short of a majority, while Eisenkot's bloc and the Arab parties together accounted for 66 seats. The shekel weakened as the results emerged, reflecting uncertainty surrounding the country's political future.
Special ballots could still change the results
The IDF reported that 79.9% of military personnel had exercised their right to vote, an increase of 6.2% compared with the previous Knesset election. More than 890 military polling stations operated across Israel, including mobile stations deployed to military bases, units and combat zones.
Many military ballots are counted under Israel's double-envelope system, which requires additional verification to prevent duplicate voting. Elad Naveh, head of the Central Elections Committee's control center, said more than half a million double-envelope ballots were expected, with counting scheduled to begin around midnight Wednesday and conclude Thursday evening.
Naveh cautioned that it was too early to estimate their impact on the parliamentary seat distribution. Even after the additional votes are counted, the results will remain nearly final rather than fully certified, with further checks scheduled for next week.
The committee also clarified that the absence of published results from several cities, including Kfar Saba, Ra'anana, Sakhnin and Kafr Qasim, did not mean ballots had not been counted locally. Instead, results from those polling stations had not yet been fully received and processed by the central committee's systems in Jerusalem.
Eisenkot's early victory speech meets changing results
The emerging results cast a different light on speeches delivered by the two main political rivals overnight. Eisenkot addressed supporters shortly after the television exit polls were released, declaring that Israelis had voted for political change and calling on Netanyahu to step down.
"We have made history," Eisenkot told supporters. "The public chose change." He accused Netanyahu's coalition of losing the public's confidence, while supporters repeatedly chanted, "The next prime minister!"
Netanyahu, meanwhile, addressed supporters at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, celebrating Likud's emergence as the largest party and calling for cooperation among Israel's Zionist political forces.
"The Zionist majority must come to its senses and unite. Only that way can we guarantee Israel's future," Netanyahu said. He also twice thanked his "loyal partners" in the outgoing coalition, signaling his intention to preserve those political relationships.
With 70.7% of votes counted, the remaining ballots and the expected double-envelope count could still alter the allocation of seats. The growing representation of Arab parties has also intensified the debate over whether they could help facilitate an alternative government, although a parliamentary majority alone does not guarantee that the parties involved will agree to govern together.
First published: 07:37, 10.28.26