Israel's Final Count Confirms a Parliament No One Can Govern

Israel’s Central Elections Committee published the final count early Friday, confirming a deadlocked 120-seat Knesset: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, the main opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48, and Arab-led parties secured 19. No camp can reach the 61 seats needed for a majority on its own. The count is complete, though the results are still due to be formally certified and submitted to President Isaac Herzog on November 4.

The final seat distribution shows how fragmented the new parliament will be. Likud won 27 seats, Yashar 21 and B’Yachad 12. The Joint List won 11; the Democrats and Ra’am each won eight; Yisrael Beytenu, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism each won seven; and Shas and Religious Zionism each won six. Turnout was 77.9 per cent, with 5,716,665 votes cast. Netanyahu’s bloc falls from 68 seats in the outgoing Knesset.

The 19 Arab-led seats could be decisive in a potential opposition-led grouping, which would total 67 if all 48 opposition lawmakers and the Arab factions cooperated. That arithmetic does not make a coalition straightforward: parties differ sharply over security policy, Gaza, the West Bank and the role Arab-led parties could play. Some opposition figures have discussed outside support for a minority government, while other parties have ruled out cooperation.

Netanyahu remains prime minister in a caretaker capacity while negotiations begin. The Central Elections Committee said the count would be submitted to President Isaac Herzog on November 4 after routine inquiries; it has said those checks will not affect the published seat totals. The 26th Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10. After receiving the results, Herzog will consult the elected factions and ask a lawmaker he believes has the best chance to form a government.

Under Israel’s government-formation process, the first candidate normally has 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible extension of up to 14 days. If no one succeeds, further attempts may follow; failure to form a government could eventually lead to another election. Netanyahu’s camp could seek to persuade former allies Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman to return, while Eisenkot’s bloc must decide whether and how to seek Arab-party support.

The deadlock follows Israel’s first national election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and the wars that followed. A prolonged caretaker period would leave major decisions on Iran, Gaza and the West Bank in the hands of a government without a new parliamentary majority. For now, voters have produced a clear arithmetic result but no governing mandate: the next government will depend on negotiations and compromises no bloc campaigned on.