Eisenkot Bloc Gains Seats, Arab Parties Decline in Israeli Election Update

Initial results from the Israeli elections, with 77.6% of votes counted, show Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc maintaining 54 seats. Gadi Eisenkot's bloc has risen to 49 seats, while Arab parties have seen their representation decrease to 17 seats. The Likud party secured 27 seats, "Yesh" received 22, and "Yachad" obtained 12. The Joint List garnered 11 seats, the Democrats 8, and "Yisrael Beiteinu," "Yahadut HaTorah," "Shas," and "Otzma Yehudit" each received 7 seats. "Religious Zionism-Zeut" won 6 seats, as did the United Arab List.

Compared to previous updates, "Yesh" gained two seats at the expense of the Joint List, while "Yisrael Beiteinu" lost one seat to "Yachad." These results are preliminary and subject to change as vote counting continues. The counting of votes in the city of Rahat contributed to the United Arab List's representation increasing from four to six seats. In Rahat, the United Arab List received 83.6% of the votes cast in 31 ballot boxes, compared to 14.7% for the Joint List. Similar trends were observed in Kuseife and Kafr Qasim, where the United Arab List also received a significant majority of votes.

Officials from the Central Elections Committee stated that the counting of double envelopes is expected to begin around midnight and continue until the following evening. Over half a million double envelopes are estimated, but their impact on the final seat distribution in the Knesset remains uncertain. The final picture will not be clear until all ballot boxes are counted and envelopes processed, with a final verification of ballot boxes scheduled for the following week.

The 26th Knesset elections, held on Tuesday, October 27th, saw a voter turnout of 77.7%, the highest in years. Preliminary results indicated a close race between Netanyahu's and Eisenkot's blocs, with Arab parties initially projected to win 16 seats. Forming a government requires the support of at least 61 members in the 120-seat Knesset.