Full coverage· Politics· Updated 09:35

Likud Leads Israeli Election With 28 Seats After 60% of Votes Counted

The bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu is leading in the preliminary results of the Israeli Knesset elections on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, as the vote count progresses. With over 60% of the ballots counted, representing more than 2.7 million votes, Netanyahu's bloc is projected to secure 56 seats, while the opposition bloc holds 48 seats, and Arab parties have 16. Voter turnout reached a 25-year high of 77.7%.

8 newsrooms · 4 languages · since 03:34

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Likud Leads Israeli Election With 28 Seats After 60% of Votes Counted — Illustration by baba

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What happened

01Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc leads the Israeli Knesset elections with 56 projected seats after 60% of the votes are counted.
02The opposition bloc is projected to win 48 seats, while Arab parties collectively hold 16 seats.
03The Likud party leads all individual factions with 28 projected seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's party with 21 seats.
04Voter turnout in the election reached 77.7%, marking the highest participation rate in 25 years.
05Naftali Bennett's party rose to third place in the vote count, overtaking the Joint List.
06The final outcome depends on the counting of over half a million double envelopes, including military and diplomatic votes.
07Final official results from the Central Elections Committee are expected to be completed by November 4th.

Individually, the Likud party leads the count with 28 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's party, referred to variously as Yashar, Yachad, or BeYachad, with 21 seats. Naftali Bennett's party has risen to third place in the vote percentage, overtaking the Joint List, which holds 11 to 12 seats. Other parties projected to enter the Knesset include United Torah Judaism with 8 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu with 8, the Democrats with 8, Shas with 7, Otzma Yehudit with 7, Religious Zionism with 6, and Ra'am with 4 seats.

Several smaller parties, including those led by Yoaz Hendel and Ofer Winter, are currently below the 3.25% electoral threshold, while Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party remains narrowly above it. The final seat distribution remains subject to change as election officials process over half a million double envelopes, including ballots from soldiers and diplomats. Near-final results are expected by the end of Thursday, with the final official results due by November 4th.

Summarized by baba from the reports of 8 newsrooms. Updated 09:57

Latest report: Mignews. Read Mignews’s original