Israel faced a political stalemate on Wednesday as vote counting reached nearly 90 percent. No clear winner emerged from the national election. Both major political blocs fell short of the 61 seats required to form a government in the 120-member Knesset.
The Israeli Central Elections Committee stated on Wednesday evening that it had processed more than five million votes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc tracked toward 53 seats. The opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot projected to secure 48 seats.
Projections from Tuesday’s voting indicated that Arab parties, including the Joint List and Ra’am, could claim a record combined 19 seats. Final election results could arrive by Thursday evening, though analysts do not expect a definitive winner even then.
More than 500,000 special double-envelope ballots still require counting, a process that could alter seat distribution. These ballots include votes cast by soldiers, diplomats and citizens voting away from their registered stations.
The national vote marked the first election since the October 7, 2023, attacks and the Gaza genocide, acting widely as a referendum on Netanyahu’s premiership. The 77-year-old incumbent is far from defeated despite his bloc missing a majority. He will continue serving as caretaker prime minister until a new administration takes shape.
President Isaac Herzog will begin consultations with party leaders regarding government formation next week after the release of official results. Herzog urged all factions to avoid another election cycle that would paralyze the government formation process. Israeli history shows that no single party has ever won an outright majority, making coalition building a permanent necessity.
Prior to the vote, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot ruled out forming a minority government supported by Arab-led parties. With Netanyahu’s bloc positioned as the largest, analysts suggested he might form a unity government that could include Eisenkot, though this outcome is uncertain.
Eisenkot wrote in a post on X on Wednesday that his opposition alliance focused on the heavy task of bringing change to Israel and establishing a Zionist mobilisation government. He called it the will of the people who expressed no confidence in the government of October 7th.
Amid high turnout among Arab voters, Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Arab factions of stealing the election. Likud claimed in a statement that Arab parties supporting terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state used criminal offences of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries and prohibited software.
Likud stated it was transferring hundreds of testimonies and evidence regarding election theft in Arab polling stations to the police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee. The predominantly Arab Joint List alliance responded that preliminary figures showed Arab voter turnout played a decisive role in keeping Netanyahu short of a parliamentary majority.
The Joint List stated that voters answered incitement and intimidation at the ballot box by rejecting a government of butchers and its policies of home demolitions, racism and war crimes. Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said the alliance could back an anti-Netanyahu government from outside without officially joining it, pledging to work toward removing Netanyahu from power.
