Netanyahu Leads as Bennett Rises in Knesset Vote Count Drama

By רבקה שורק

Translated & summarized from Now 14 by baba

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Hebrew · 8 newsrooms covering

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is leading the ongoing Knesset election vote count, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yachad party. Naftali Bennett's party has risen to third place, surpassing the Joint List. Ra'am party is close to the electoral threshold, while parties led by Yoaz Hendel and Ofer Winter are currently below it. Over 2.7 million votes have been counted, with final results due by November 4th.

The story in 6 lines · by baba

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party leads the Knesset election vote count with 20.81% of ballots.
Gadi Eisenkot's Yachad party is in second place with 17.06% of the votes.
Naftali Bennett's party has climbed to third, overtaking the Joint List with 9.21% of votes.
Ra'am party is narrowly above the 3.25% electoral threshold with 3.41% of votes.
Parties led by Yoaz Hendel and Ofer Winter are currently below the electoral threshold.
Over 2.7 million votes have been counted, with final results expected by November 4th.

Netanyahu Leads as Bennett Rises in Knesset Vote Count Drama — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is currently leading in the ongoing vote count for the 26th Knesset elections, with Gadi Eisenkot's Yachad party in second place. Naftali Bennett's party has climbed to third, surpassing the Joint List, as the Central Elections Committee continues to update results. As of 7:26 AM, Likud holds 20.81% of the votes, with over 571,000 ballots cast in its favor. Eisenkot's party follows with 17.06%, a difference of more than 103,000 votes.

Bennett's party has seen a significant rise, moving from fourth to third place by overtaking the Joint List. Bennett's party currently has 9.21% of the votes, while the Joint List has 8.52%, with less than 19,000 votes separating them. The final standings between these two parties could still shift as more votes are tallied.

Other parties in the running include Yair Golan's Democrats with 7.08%, United Torah Judaism with 6.43%, and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu with 6.19%. Following them are Shas with 5.60%, Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit with 5.41%, and Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism with 4.92%.

The Ra'am party, led by Mansour Abbas, is precariously close to the 3.25% electoral threshold, currently holding 3.41% of the votes. A slight shift could significantly impact its representation and the overall distribution of Knesset seats. Meanwhile, parties led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, and Ofer Winter, are currently below the threshold, with Hendel and Zelekha's party at 2.66% and Winter's party at 1.67%.

To date, over 2.7 million votes have been counted from more than 6,400 polling stations. The final official results are expected to be published by next Wednesday, November 4th. In a notable detail, the "Chain for Love and People's Unity" party has garnered 952 votes, nearly double that of Sharon Haskel's "Israel First" party, which received only 548 votes. Avi Maoz's Noam party has secured 4,450 votes, and Motty Litner's Haredi Public party has received 6,465 votes.