Final Election Results Released, Coalition Bloc Falls Short of Majority

The Central Election Committee has released the final results for the 26th Knesset elections, confirming the distribution of 120 parliamentary seats. The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged as the largest party with 27 mandates. National Unity, headed by Gadi Eisenkot, secured 21 seats, followed by the Together party with 12. The Joint List won 11 seats, Democrats 8, Ra'am 8, Yisrael Beiteinu 7, Otzma Yehudit 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Shas 6, and Religious Zionism 6. Other parties failed to pass the electoral threshold.

In terms of blocs, the potential coalition parties garnered 53 mandates, the opposition bloc received 48, and Arab parties collectively won 19 seats. The overall voter turnout was 77.9%, with 5,716,665 votes counted, of which 5,690,778 were valid.

The committee clarified that the results are still subject to election integrity checks and potential corrections during the ongoing review process. These final results, barring minor adjustments, will be presented to the President on Wednesday, November 4th.

Separately, the Election Committee addressed an investigation launched by the Shin Bet into suspected election manipulation, initiated by Committee Chairman Judge Noam Solberg. Acting Director-General Dean Livna stated that the investigation, based on classified intelligence presented by the Shin Bet chief, would not impact the final election outcomes. He emphasized that information regarding the investigation is highly classified, and unconfirmed media reports are inaccurate. The probe is not focused on any specific sector and is proceeding concurrently with the committee's review processes. Findings will be shared with the committee chairman for further review and will be updated to the public as soon as security constraints allow.