Israel election ends in deadlock; Netanyahu bloc holds 53 seats

Israel's 27 October 2026 election produced no clear winner. With all votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-led bloc secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot obtained 48 seats. Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, won a record 19 seats.

Neither major bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority. Netanyahu's allies include Religious Zionism, Jewish Power, United Torah Judaism and Shas. Eisenkot's grouping comprises Yashar and other centre and right-of-centre lists. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot have ruled out coalitions with the Arab parties, citing differences over core issues.

President Isaac Herzog is expected to begin consultations with party leaders after the official certification of results, which was anticipated around 4 November. He will then assign the task of forming a government to the candidate he judges has the best chance of success. That process can take weeks. If no one succeeds, Israel faces the possibility of another election.

The result leaves Netanyahu short of a majority for the first time in several cycles, yet still the largest single bloc. He has survived previous inconclusive outcomes by assembling narrow coalitions. The size of the Arab parties' haul complicates the arithmetic for both sides. Any government that excludes them must draw from a smaller pool of remaining seats.

The election took place against the background of the ongoing war with Iran and domestic debates over the cost of living and military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox communities. Turnout and late counting of double-envelope ballots did not alter the final bloc totals. Likud finished with 27 seats, Yashar with 21, the Joint List with 11 and Ra'am with 8.

Coalition negotiations will focus on budgets, the continuation of military operations, and the status of religious and settlement issues that have divided previous governments. The opposition has argued that the result demonstrates public fatigue with Netanyahu's long tenure. Netanyahu's camp has pointed to the fact that his bloc remains the largest and that the opposition still cannot form a government on its own.

Until a new government is sworn in, the current administration continues in a caretaker capacity. Major policy decisions, including those related to the Iran conflict and to relations with the United States, will be constrained by the lack of a stable majority. The midterm results in Washington, which gave Democrats control of Congress, add an external variable: future US aid and diplomatic support may face closer scrutiny from the new majorities.

The immediate next step is Herzog's round of consultations. The identity of the person asked to form a government will set the terms for the weeks of bargaining that follow. Israel has managed prolonged periods of political uncertainty before; the current deadlock is the latest example.