not everywhere· Politics· Updated 11:24

Netanyahu Bloc Leads as 91% of Votes Counted in Israeli Election

With over 94% of the votes counted in the elections for the 26th Knesset, the political bloc supporting Benjamin Netanyahu leads with 53 seats, while the opposition bloc holds 48 seats. Neither of the two main political blocs has reached the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority. Arab parties collectively hold the remaining 19 seats.

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Netanyahu Bloc Leads as 91% of Votes Counted in Israeli Election — Illustration by baba

What happened

01Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc leads with 53 seats, while the opposition bloc holds 48 seats after 94.4% of the votes are counted.
02Neither of the two main political blocs has secured the 61 seats required to form a parliamentary majority in the 26th Knesset.
03Arab parties collectively hold 19 seats, with Ra'am gaining one seat from the Joint List to reach a total of 8 seats.
04Likud leads individual parties with 26 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21 seats and Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi with 12 seats.
05Political commentator Amit Segal suggests Shas may lose a seat to Likud, potentially dropping Shas to 6 seats.
06A minority government remains a tight but possible scenario for the opposition bloc and Ra'am, requiring the Joint List to abstain.
07The counting of double envelope votes from soldiers and diplomats has begun, with final official results due by November 4, 2026.

According to the Central Election Committee, the preliminary results show Likud leading with 26 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21, and Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi with 12. The Joint List is projected to win 11 seats, while Yair Golan's Democrats and Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party are each projected to win 8 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu, Otzma Yehudit, United Torah Judaism, and Shas are each projected to receive 7 seats.

Political commentator Amit Segal noted that Shas could potentially lose a seat to Likud, which would drop Shas to 6 seats and raise Likud to 27. Segal also discussed the possibility of a minority government formed by the opposition bloc and Ra'am, which would require the Joint List to abstain. The counting of double envelope votes, including those of soldiers and diplomats, is underway, though Segal expects their impact to be limited. The final official results must be published by November 4, 2026.

Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated 13:27

Latest report: Kikar HaShabbat. Read Kikar HaShabbat’s original