Israel Election Results 2026 LIVE Updates: Israel election counting concludes, Netanyahu’s party short of majority

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife, Sara, waves to supporters at Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem after the release of the first exit poll results in Israel's general election, Wednesday. (Source: AP)

Israel’s final election results go to President Isaac Herzog on November 4 after any checks for errors or inquiries. The 26th Knesset is due to be sworn in on November 10. Herzog will then consult party leaders and ask one candidate to try to form a government. That candidate needs the backing of at least 61 of the 120 lawmakers. If repeated attempts fail, Israel could face another general election early next year.

Where things stand now: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office while parties weigh alliances. His right-wing and far-right bloc came first but won only 53 seats, short of a majority. The opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot took 48. Arab-led parties won the remaining 19 and that gives them unprecedented leverage.

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What the numbers say about the chances: Neither side has a clear path. Netanyahu would need eight more seats, and none of the other blocs has shown a sign of backing him. Eisenkot’s 48 seats rise to 67 only with the Arab-led parties, which would make them decisive. No Arab party joined an Israeli governing coalition before 2021, when Ra’am briefly became part of a broad coalition. Netanyahu has suggested that cooperation between Eisenkot and Arab parties would amount to treason, according to Arab News.

Arab parties could also wield influence without joining a government, by backing opposition candidates for parliamentary leadership posts and shaping the legislative agenda. Ahmad Tibi of the Joint List said the opposition had approached him about replacing the Knesset speaker, and that his party would support the bloc’s candidate. Eisenkot has left the door open to cooperation. If no coalition emerges after several attempts, a fresh election is the likely outcome, extending a stretch of instability that has already produced repeated votes in recent years.

The row escalated when Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, referred the suspicions to the Shin Bet. He wrote that he could not verify the claims but found them serious enough to warrant investigation. The Shin Bet confirmed it is examining suspected irregularities in election, including whether illegal funding came from Qatar and Turkey. The committee said the investigation would not alter the final results or target any section of the population and it is seeking the Shin Bet’s findings within a week.

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