Israel Election: Half of Special Ballots Counted, Mandates for Shas and Ra'am Uncertain
Translated & summarized from NEWSru Israel by baba
Israel's Central Election Committee has counted nearly half of the special "double envelope" ballots from the recent Knesset elections, with results potentially impacting the final seat distribution. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud leads in these special votes, while the mandates for Shas and Ra'am are uncertain. The party Miluimnikim VeKalkalit is still short of the electoral threshold. The overall bloc distribution remains stable, but individual party seat allocations may change before final results are announced by November 4, 2026.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Nearly half of Israel's 430,000-480,000 special election ballots have been counted, potentially altering Knesset seat distribution.
- Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud leads with 18.5% of the counted special ballots.
- The final mandates for Shas and Ra'am are uncertain as the special ballot count continues.
- Miluimnikim VeKalkalit needs over 30,000 more votes to pass the 3.25% electoral threshold.
- The overall bloc distribution remains 53 seats for Netanyahu's coalition, 48 for the opposition, and 19 for Arab parties.
- Final election results are expected to be published by November 4, 2026.
Israel's Central Election Committee is continuing its count of "double envelope" ballots from the 26th Knesset elections, with nearly half of the estimated 430,000 to 480,000 such votes now processed. These ballots, cast by soldiers, hospital patients, prisoners, diplomats, and voters with disabilities, could significantly alter the final distribution of Knesset seats.
Early results from the double envelopes show Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, with 18.5% of the votes. Other parties performing well in this category include Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar (15.1%), Naftali Bennett's Bayahad (13.9%), Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin's Tzionut HaDatit VeZeut (10.6%), and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit (8.1%). Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu and Yair Golan's HaDemocratim each garnered 5.9%, while Shas received 4.7%, and United Torah Judaism 4.3%.
The party Miluimnikim VeKalkalit, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelicha, is currently at 4% of the double envelope votes. However, the party remains below the 3.25% electoral threshold, needing an additional 30,865 votes to enter the Knesset. The number of votes required to pass the threshold is expected to increase as more ballots are counted.
Crucially, the final seat allocation for Shas and Ra'am remains in question, with their seventh and eighth mandates, respectively, potentially at risk. While the overall bloc distribution of 53 seats for Netanyahu's coalition, 48 for the opposition, and 19 for Arab parties has remained stable, the precise number of mandates for individual parties may still shift.
As of Thursday afternoon, with approximately 96.1% of all votes counted, the total valid votes stood at 5,449,594. The final official results are expected to be published by November 4, 2026.
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