Israel's election count points to a deadlock

With nearly all votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc has 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc has 48, both short of the 61 needed to govern. Arab parties won 19 seats combined. Official final results are expected November 4. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister until a new government forms. Election officials ordered the Shin Bet to look into an unverified TV report that money from Qatar was used to influence Arab turnout; Qatar denies it.

The day's 5 biggest stories, verified, free by email

▶ Watch the 90-second briefing (story 3 of 5) 🔔 Get 6 AM & 5 PM alerts

Why it matters

Until a new coalition is formed, Netanyahu continues as caretaker prime minister, which could last weeks or longer. Neither main bloc can govern alone, so smaller parties will shape who leads Israel. The outcome affects Israel's government during the ongoing war with Iran.

What to watch

Official final results are expected November 4, and the Shin Bet's findings on the Qatar allegations are due within a week.

How each side sees it

Netanyahu's Likud saysLikud accused Arab parties of stealing the election through voter fraud, a claim that has not been substantiated, and said no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra'am and the Joint List.

Eisenkot saysEisenkot says he will try to form a Zionist government, called the foreign-interference allegations profoundly serious and accused Netanyahu's camp of trying to delay the results.

Sources

Checked against 2 established news sources:

Also in this edition

Published Thursday, October 29, 2026. Spot an error? Email [email protected]. See our corrections log and standards.